How to train your Dragon at the Hunger Games
by Wolffury
Summary: Astrid Hofferson lives on island 12, Berk. But when she and Hiccup are thrown into the deadliest game there is, will she have what it takes to survive? Or will she become a victim of the Hunger Games?
1. Ch1: Island Twelve

** Hello ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, dogs and cats, dragons of all ages. This is my story about what would happen if Hiccup and Astrid were thrown into the Hunger Games. Well, I hope you all enjoy.**

**I don't own How to train your Dragon or the Hunger Games.**

* * *

Ch. 1: Island Twelve

_This is island twelve or as we call it, Berk. It's a few days north of hopeless, and a few degrees south of freezing to death. We're located in the middle of the meridian of misery. Our village, in a word, terrible. We suffer from starving to death, deadly dragon attacks, and the Hunger Games. The only upside, there is no upside._

* * *

The reaping day is today. I woke up early to go out hunting. Hunting is one of our island's main duties, along with fishing and iron mining. We've been facing starvation due to the increase in dragon attacks. The dragons have been taking our food and in return the Flagcity has been taking it out on us. The Flagcity has established quotas and when that quota isn't filled, the difference is taken out of the little food we are allowed to keep. Illegal hunting and storing of food has become a little more than common. It doesn't help the problem with the food, but it does keep us alive. Some of us, anyway.

I grabbed my ax and went into the forest. The sun was just beginning to rise, just enough to allow me to see what I was doing. I went into the spot I usually found game and waited. I chose this spot because I could usually either corner the game or scare it into one of the traps I had set. I waited for about ten minutes when a deer walked through the woods and into the clearing. I got ready, then threw my ax at the deer and hit it in its right rib cage. The deer fell down dead. I walked up and pulled out my ax. I then took out my knife and cut its throat so that the blood would drain out. I grabbed it by its antlers and started to drag it through the forest. It took me till about eight-thirty to drag the deer to the edge of the forest. It took me a while to drag it back to my house without anyone seeing me. When I got home, my parents were getting ready for the reaping as I dragged the carcass downstairs to hide it.

When I came back up my mom dressed me up in a white Greek style dress, the kind they would wear on Island One. I hated it, although I hated dresses on general. They require a lot of hassle, impair your movement, and are all around pointless. Granted if I had to choose between a dress or nothing, I'd take the dress. My mom did my blonde hair in a bun, which I hated, and I put on my boots. We couldn't afford fancy shoes, which was one of the only reasons I liked being poor.

At ten we went to the square for the reaping. The square was decked out in large TV screens, lights, and cameras. The Peaceguards were all around to prevent runaways. I signed in and took my place among the girls my age. They all took a step away from me. I was the loner of the group, never hung out with anyone, never talked unless I was talked to first (my parents at least taught me **some** manners), and always beat up the guys who tried to hit on me.

When the anthem played everyone looked at the stage that had been set up. Up came the high society representative of island twelve straight from the Flagcity, Zeta Tetherman. A representative who got stuck with our island, but tried to make the best of it. She didn't belong, she wore a blue dress with a pink scarf, she was also the only one who had purple hair. She was followed closely by Cheif Stoick, and Gobber. Gobber had won the Hunger Games twenty years ago. I of course being fifteen, had not seen those games. He had lost both his left arm and his right leg in those games.

I hated the games, who didn't. The only people who liked them were island two and the Flagcity. Island two had grown to like the games as they usually won, and they considered it a great honor to die on the field of battle. The Flagcity liked them because they were often times gambled upon, and none of them had to have their kids as tributes in them.

The Hunger Games had been established after the civil war when some of the other islands rebelled against the Flagcity and it's laws. They had wished to become independent and attacked the Flagcity. They were beaten, the islands had fierce rules put upon them, and island thirteen had been utterly destroyed. The Games were then established as an annual reminder of the original islands barbaricness and what it led to.

_ Barbaricness. They're the ones who are barbaric. _I thought to myself._ Taking twenty-four kids, a boy and a girl from each island, putting them in an arena, and making them fight each other to the death. For what! Nothing but their own pleasure._

I just stood there and drowned out the talking as Zeta retold the story of how the Thirteen islands and the Flagcity had once been part of a group of savage people known as the Vikings. Then an agreement had been struck that turned them into the Flagcity and the thirteen islands. There was never much detail on this part and I suspected that the other islands would never have agreed to a treaty that brought work, pain, and suffering on most of them. She then continued about the civil war and it's going and it's end.

_We know Zeta. Now just get to the point where you draw the names of the two people who will be sent to their deaths. _ So until she did reach that point everything was a blur of words.

"Ladies first." she said with a smile.

_How can she possibly enjoy this._

She reached into the bowl and did a little fancy swirling, for dramatic affect I'm sure, and pulled out a name.

"Astrid Hofferson."

All eyes turned to me as I stood there. I was shocked my name had been drawn. I knew that I was tougher than all the boys here, mainly because I had beat all of them up at least once. I was still scared though, entering the Hunger Games might as well have been a death sentence. I slowly walked up to the stage. I walked up the stairs and Zeta directed me to her left side. I looked out into the crowd. I spotted my parents, my mom was crying and my dad was trying to calm her. He didn't seem as worried, he knew what I was capable of, and that I stood the best chance of winning the games out of everyone here. Zeta then turned back to the mic.

"Now for the Boys." She reached into another bowl, did her swirling gesture again, and pulled out a name.

"Hiccup Haddock."

I heard a faint gasp from behind me when the name was called. Hiccup was Cheif Stoick's son, his only son.

_ Oh great_, I thought, _The human twig is gonna be in the games_.

I did feel sorry for him though, and his dad. Hiccup's mom had died a few years back, she had won the Hunger Games only two years after Gobber did. Hiccup was not going to last one minute in that arena though. He was shorter than me by at least an inch, skinnier than everyone else, hardly had any strength at all, and was practically responsible for losing over half the food the dragons had taken this year alone. Needless to say, no one from our island was going to be rooting for him.

Hiccup stepped out of the group he was in and walked up to the stage. He had reddish brown hair that almost came down over his eyes, freckles all over his face, and emerald green eyes. Weird, for the first time I noticed he was kind of cute, only about one- one millionth cute, but still.

He walked up and Zeta made us shake hands. He gulped hard as we shook and I noticed he seemed to be starring at me with sorrowful, but awed eyes. He was obviously sad about being in the games, I couldn't say that I didn't feel the same. But where was the awe coming from? I tried to keep my face stone like, but found some sorrow coming on my expression as well. I felt sorry for Hiccup, a little guy like him wouldn't stand much chance in the games. Zeta then had the Cheif come up and congratulate us on our being picked. I couldn't imagine what this was like for Stoick, actually being forced to _congratulate _his own son for being sentenced to his death. I couldn't help but notice a tear seemed to be forming in his eye as he did so. We were then led into the Cheif's house and into separate rooms to say our goodbyes.

* * *

My parents came in. Needless to say they were emotional. We walked over to each other and hugged.

"Please, win and come back to us." My mom choked out as she continued crying.

"Don't worry about her sweetheart, she'll be fine."

"Mom, Dad, I promise..."

"No, no don't. No point making a promise..."my father started.

"Unless you're positive you can keep it." I finished still hugging them close.

When they came to knock on our door to tell us our time was up my father gave me one last piece of advice.

"Fight hard, if you win you win, if you don't, make sure you at least leave them with a scar." I couldn't help but smile at this.

The Peacegaurds then came in and escorted my parents out. I caught a glimpse of Stoick leaving the room across the hall. Zeta then came in and brought both of us to a car that would transport us to the hovercraft. On the ride there I undid the bun my hair was in and put it in its usual braid. I tied off the end with a piece of string I kept in the dress' sown on pocket. Pockets tend to come in handy here. When we got out of the car we were surrounded on one side by camera's and lights. We quickly got on the hovercraft and the door sealed behind us. We looked at each other, both of us had sorrow mixed with fear on our faces.

Hiccup broke the silence, "So, uh, you hungry."


	2. Ch2: Hovercraft

Ch. 2: Hovercraft

* * *

I normally would have been angry and hit him for thinking of food. Then my stomach growled and I realized he had a point, plus maybe he thought eating would take our minds off of the Games. So...

"Sure, let's find something to eat." I said in an unenthusiastic tone.

I led the way down the corridor of the hovercraft to the lunch room. The walls were all a dull white but when we walked by the lights turned on lighting the walls up, except for doors. We entered the lunch room which was big and had a window overlooking Berk for one of the walls. We saw Zeta and Gobber sitting at the table in the middle. I walked over to the window as we began to take off, when we were in the air I could see Berk shrinking into the distance. We then sat down at the table and started sampling different foods that were there.

There were several different kinds of chicken; roasted, grilled, fried, and some covered in some kind of sweet and sour sauce. There were rolls with a variety of stuff baked into them like, raisins, strawberries, nuts, and chocolate. Mashed potatoes covered in gravy, shrimp, steak, fresh fruit, and more. The beverages consisted of several kinds of fruit juices, punch, hot chocolate, and water. Then there were the desserts. Multiple kinds of cookies, brownies, cakes, pies, you name it.

Zeta gave us a weird look as we grabbed a little of everything, like she didn't know we had never seen or tasted food like this. Gobber just sat there drinking his personal supply of mead. Me and Hiccup sat down and started stuffing our faces. We at least had the decency to use the silverware, other wise I'm sure Zeta would have fainted. We were still eating when she finally spoke. "You had better learn some manners by the time we reach the Flagcity."

I didn't care for this statement. I was never one for manners, mainly because Berkians never cared for manners in the first place. Plus I didn't care what people thought of me, as long as they left me alone. Hicup then answered her sarcastically, "Yeah, good luck with that."

She seemed offended at that. I was pretty sure it was the truth, but I still would have tried to make the effort. The Hunger Games had transformed into a game show for the Flagcity people, as well as a few of the islands. The tributes were dressed up and had to make a positive impact on the people, and more importantly, sponsors. Sponsors were usually the richest people in the Flagcity. The used their riches to send you gifts in the Games to give you an edge and sometimes save your life. Occasionally an island might be able to gather together enough money to send something to a tribute, usually from their own island. I was sure this statement meant Hiccup wasn't going to try to change, even if he could use his partial cuteness on the crowd. Hiccup, though the chief's son, was the island disappointment. If anyone was disliked more than me and my rebelious, outsider attitude, it was Hiccup and his constant negative interference in the dragon raids. To his benefit though, he hadn't caused his usual amount of trouble lately, or any trouble for that matter. I just realized looking back that he hadn't been seen around town as of late.

"Don't worry Zeta we'll try our best." I wasn't sure if our best would help but I had to at least try and reassure her. "Right. Hiccup." As I said this I gave him a scowl that made him scoot away from me.

"Yeah, right." he said dryly. Assuming this would be the best she got, Zeta resumed telling us about what was going to happen.

"First we're going to reach the Flagcity tomorrow and meet with your stylists for the parade tomorrow night. Then you'll speak with your mentor," she gave Gobber a nervous look, "and you'll train with his guidance for the next three days after. On the fourth day you'll have private sessions with the Gamemakers, followed by the interviews that night."

She didn't need to say what came the day after that, The Games. We had finished eating and Zeta got up to check on the progress of our trip. Which left the three of us; Hiccup, me, and half drunk Gobber. I decided to break the silence.

"So, got any advice for us?"

"Stay alive." Was all Gobber could say.

"Like we couldn't have guessed that." Hiccup threw in with his usual sarcastic manner. He then leaned back, he obviously wasn't going to take this seriously. Apparently even _he_ thought he had no chance. I however, intended on coming home alive.

"Stay alive, Stay Alive! You're supposed to be helping us get ready, and you just say _stay alive_?" I got up and grabbed Gobber by his shirt and pulled him halfway across the table. "Look. I am **not** coming all this way just to die. I intend to survive this thing. So sober up, and help us!" I was shouting at him and gave him an even fiercer look than I had given Hiccup.

"Now that's the attitude that will get you the win for sure." He gave me a toothy grin and got me to release my grip on him. He then walked away leaving us alone. I turned to Hiccup and saw he was scared. He obviously didn't want to be in the same room as me when I was mad. My mood changed back to slight depression, I personally had nothing against Hiccup, aside from the _losing our food to the dragons_ part, he seemed nice and, from what I had seen of him, acted kindly to everyone. It was hard to see him winning, or for that matter even competing in the Hunger Games. Seeing as there was nothing else to do, I decided to leave.

"I'll be in my room." I took one step into the hall and saw all the doors, "If I can find it that is."

"I might as well join you, I'll probably have even more difficulty finding mine. Probably even crash the hovercraft in the process." He got up and followed me. I couldn't help but give a small smile at his last statement. The fact that he could joke about his own tendency to cause problems was amusing. The smile faded though as a thought crossed my mined. I was growing fond of him. Not even a day and I started to like him, and in five days we'll be enemies. At least I had some comfort in that one of the other twenty-two tributes would probably get him before me. His death will still be unsettling.

We found our rooms which were surprisingly right next to each other. I went in to find a nice Flagcity style mattress bed, a wardrobe full of clothes for me to wear, and a shower with several buttons for I don't know what. I took a shower, and decided to try some of the features. The buttons activated different mixtures of fragrances and water pressures.

When I got out I felt refreshed. I put on some of the clothes I found in the wardrobe and hung around the room for a while. After a while I decided to go wander around the hovercraft. I found a window and looked out to see the ocean as we flew over it. We seemed to be coming up on an island. Probably for refilling, Berk was the farthest island from the Flagcity. Farthest inhabited island I should say. Island Thirteen is the farthest, but since it is uninhabited and no one ever goes there it doesn't really count it.

Island thirteen used to have the second largest population out of all the islands. Now all it had was the largest population of dragons. After the Flagcity's attack, all that was left on that island was rock and ash. Eventually, dragons nested on the island and completely took it over. Now it was know as Dragon Island.

I was getting hungry so I made my way to the dining room. I encountered Hiccup along the way and we somehow got to talking about what our lives had been like. I told him about my everyday life, my adventures in the forest, the illegal hunting. Well, I figured it didn't matter since only one of us might come out of this alive. He didn't seem surprised by the hunting part, I guessed he probably expected it. Everyone knew about the hunger problem, especially him since he was mostly responsible for the hunger situation. He in turn told me about his terrible life. I honestly didn't know he had it as bad as he did. It turns out life can be worse than starving if your father is always disappointed, had such great expectations as a chief's son, and was made fun of and bullied for his constant mess ups. We had been starving, but my parents had always been proud of me. He may not have been starving as much, but he had to deal with constant ridicule and bullying.

When we got to the dining hall Gobber and Zeta were already there waiting for us. We sat down to a quiet dinner. The food was different but just as fancy as it was before. Ribs, several different pasta dishes, crab legs, salads, same list of beverages as before, and top it all off with ice cream and a variety of condiments. Finally Gobber spoke up, "When you get to the Flagcity tomorrow. Ya need to try to be appealing to the crowd. Ya know, smile, wave, act nice, all that overrated stuff."

"It is not overrated!" Zeta shot at him, appalled by his lack of civilization.

"Please, look ah me. I won the Games, and I am not afraid to deny that I am not the prettiest thing to look at. Though I won't deny that it can be helpful in the ring to leave a good first impression."

"Well, why do we need to be pleasing to everyone if it doesn't really matter?" I asked. Eager for there to not be a good reason to get all dolled up.

"Because, every Hunger Games is different. You could see an arena that supplies the tributes with everything they need one year, and find yourself in a remote desert the next."

As much as I disliked this answer, he had a point. Some tributes might need more help than others in a given environment. For instance I knew I would be just fine in a wooded arena, but desperate in the middle of a desert. We continued to eat discussing boring methods of how we should make everyone want to root for us. I reluctantly took in some of the advice, I still hated getting all _fancy_. Hiccup on the other hand, just sat there ignoring everything.

"Oh come on Hiccup, if you want to stand a chance out there you need to listen." Gobber looked at him desperately. I knew he wanted Hiccup to at least try, and to be honest, I did too. So I decided to help.

"He's right. If you want to have a chance of winning the Games. You need to stop all..._this_." I gestured to him with both hands.

"You just gestured to all of me." He replied apparently slightly annoyed.

"Well, not quite, _all _of you, just most."

He returned to his dinner and we returned to ours seeing that it was obviously a lost cause. When we were done, me and Hiccup returned to our rooms. When we reached my door I stopped, he then took a step past me and turned towards me.

"So, what did you mean by _most of_?"

I was caught slightly off gaurd. I had been expecting that remark back at dinner. Of course even then I was still unsure how I'd answer it.

"Well _most of _referring to your tenedency of causing mayhem and unnecessary destruction. As well as your complete silence and obvious _I give up without a fight_ attitude that defiantly **will not** get you any sponsors."

"And what are the parts that I shouldn't stop?"

"Well...uh...you know... I mean, you can always still pull the cute angle on the crowd." _Why did I say that!?_ At this he started to blush slightly. He tilted his head down, and started scratching the back of his head with his left hand.

"You really think I'm cute." I could sense the nervousness in his voice.

"Well, um...I'm really tired. So, uh, I guess I'll see you tomorrow." I found myself having a little difficulty with the door's lock as my fingers were shaking. I finally got it open. I took one last quick look at him as I went into the room. He was defiantly blushing now.

I closed the door and leaned my back against it. I slide to the floor and put my head in my hands.

"Why did I do that?" I whispered to myself. "I might as well have just told him full on, "Yes. I think you're cute." I might as well kiss him while I'm at it."

I heard some dull thuds coming from the wall to my right. That must have been Hiccup. But why was he hitting the wall. Suddenly it hit me. He was ridiculing himself, but why? He didn't do or say anything at dinner. He had acted a little strange in the hall, like he...oh no. He likes me. Oh no this is not good. He must have been beating himself up for the way he acted, although he didn't do anything wrong.

My mind spun with how to deal with this as I tried to go to sleep. How would this affect me. How would this affect him! I just practically blurted out that I like him, and just found out he likes me. The next four days are not going to be easy.

* * *

** So there is the first two chapters. I will be updating two chapters a day, and it should be finished just in time for Catching Fire to come out. How am I able to do this? Because I've actually written the entire thing, just need to upload it. Please feel free to review through, feedback is appreciated and I will try to answer any questions if there are any.**


	3. Ch 3: Flagcity

**Welcome back, just a quick thing I thought I should mention. Astrid and Hiccup around aged around 16 in this. Anyway, back to the story.**

Ch. 3: Flagcity

* * *

The next day I woke up late. I couldn't get to sleep because I was too busy thinking about how to get around what I said to Hiccup. I took a shower and put on some fresh clothes. When I got to the dining room I found Hiccup, Gobber, and Zeta sitting there eating lunch. They all looked to me as I entered.

"Ah I see ya finally woke up. I wanted to wake ya earlier, but Zeta ere said that you would need ya beauty sleep." Gobber said.

"Well its true, she'll need her rest if she wants to impress anyone."

I wondered if she really did know that I was right there when she said that. Not that it mattered. To be honest I felt complemented at her remark about my looks. I certainly didn't want to look like the people of the Flagcity.

As I sat down they told me about how the day was going to work. They would shortly arrive at the Flagcity, me and Hiccup would go meet with our stylists and their teams, and we'd get ready for the Hunger Games tribute parade thingy.

As we ate and they talked about this, I noticed Hiccup had suddenly changed from not caring, to very interested. He was also participating in the conversation and asking questions. Could my suggesting him play the cute angle have done this, or had it been my practically saying he's cute that had done this. I figured it must have been both. My suggestion got the idea that he could stand a chance in his head, and my saying he's cute reinforced it.

When we finished Zeta looked at her watch and said we'd be arriving at the Flagcity shortly. Gobber told us to go get ready for our "makeovers". I shuddered at the thought as I got up to leave. When me and Hiccup were alone in the hallway I decided to confront him about the matter of his _cuteness_.

"You didn't tell them did you?"

"Tell them what?"

"About _last night_."

"No. I mean they asked me about my overnight attitude change, but I just told them that I was practicing my _to pathetic to bother with_ strategy."

"Did they buy it?"

"Zeta did, but I think Gobber has a few suspicions."

With that we reached my door and I opened it, "Well, see you, whenever."

I stepped inside and heard Hiccup respond, "See ya."

I closed the door and just sat there waiting. I didn't know how to "get ready to meet your stylists" so I decided to just let them see me as I was and let them take it from there.

* * *

I stood in the square, _beautification_ room waiting for my head stylist, Cinna. We had landed in the Flagcity an hour ago. As I had walked to enter the training building we would be staying in, I looked out the window and saw the Flagcity. It was...different. It was mostly tall buildings that had been made of metal instead of wood. Not exactly a pretty site, but different enough to catch my attention.

When I got into the beautification room, I met Cinna's team, Olivia, Starlet, and Zimmer. They started by having me take off my clothes. I, however, stopped at my underwear. There was no way I was going to let them see me naked, at least not Zimmer being that he was the only guy in the room. They for some reason tried to press the issue, but I simply told them it didn't matter since I wasn't going into public without clothes on anyway. They left it at that and started waxing my unwanted body hair. It was painful, then when I got Zimmer to leave, they gave me a quick wash. I dried off and put on a robe, as my team left, leaving me to wait for Cinna.

Cinna entered and was by far the most normal looking Flagcity man I had ever seen. He introduced himself and told me what an honor it was to be working with me. He led me into a small sitting room and asked me to sit. I sat down in one of the comfy chairs and Cinna sat down in a chair opposite me.

"What are you like, as in your personality."

"What does that have to do with my outfit?" I asked.

"Traditionally, the tributes have always worn outfits that reflect their island."

This was true, island Twelve's tributes were often dressed in either a fisherman, iron miner, or hunter (usually with some ridiculous "fashion" twist). "This year however I want to make sure that you are remembered. Unfortunately there are some other islands that have similar jobs as yours does."

This was true. "Although before I can dress you in the outfit I've got in mind. I need to know if you match the outfit's personality, making it even more fit for the occasion."

"I guess you could say I'm a loner, rebel, whatever you want to call it. I keep to myself and usually ignore people who try to talk to me. Although if you want the real me, I'd go with volatile, dangerous, somewhat compulsive, and don't play well with others."

"What about fiery?"

"It might as well be my middle name."

"Perfect. You see the outfit I have in mind reflects something your island has always had, but never been recognized for. Dragons."

I couldn't help but give a devious smile at this. If it wasn't for my hair, skin, lack of claws and wings, and my differently shaped appendages, I might as well be a dragon. There had defiantly been times where I felt angry enough to breathe fire. "I can't wait to see it."

After Cinna called back his team, he had me close my eyes as they put the outfit on me. I asked him if I could have my hair the way I usually had it, he inquired as to what style that was. I explained it was a braided pony tail in back with some of my bangs covering my left eye, with a few strands framing my face, and held with the headband I had brought from home. I especially emphasized the headband. Upon trying it Cinna said it would go even better than the hairdo he had in mind. He was especially mesmerized by the headband and asked me who made it. In full honesty, I didn't know. On my birthday a few years ago I had found a package on the front doorstep. It was unmarked and inside was the headband and a note. The note read,

_To :Astrid_

_ To the prettiest girl in the world. I hope that you like this headband. It is a small gift that cannot express my love for you._

_Happy Birthday_

_From: Your secret admirer._

I hadn't really given much thought to the note. All my attention had been on the headband. It was a piece of brown leather with small blue Nadder scales embedded into it. The scales, upon further inspection, were all the same shade of blue as my eyes. I knew it couldn't be from Snotlout, it was no secret that he admired me, and there was not way he had an eye for something like this. Plus the headband looked handcrafted. I've worn it everyday since then.

When they were finished I looked at myself in the mirror. On my head, other than my headband, was a headband on top of my head that had spikes coming out and going back. I was covered in glistening bright blue armor with a few thick yellow stripes. The armor pieces were all designed to look like scales. My boots had three claws coming out of the toe and one coming out of the side. I tried walking and found that the toe claws receded into themselves, allowing me to walk without difficulty. Pinned onto my shoulder pads, which looked like my old ones back home only alternating blue and yellow, was a cape. It started off light blue and yellow. There were spikes extending out of the armor and through special holes in the cape down the middle and stopped just above my hips. There was a purple line that separated the top half from the bottom half. The bottom half of the cape started transforming into a thick whiplike tail that thinned out to a point with blue and yellow stripes which alternated. As I looked I realized what I was. I was a Deadly Nadder.

* * *

We took an elevator down to a room where all the tributes where gathered. It was also where the tribute parade would begin. All the tributes rode out in pairs on horse drawn chariots. The chariots then went out in island order, making me and Hiccup last. We walked up to island twelve's chariot where Hiccup was already waiting.

Cinna told me that he and Hiccup's stylist, Rozera, had agreed on the same idea for the costumes. Hiccup was wearing armor like mine, but all black. His headpiece was similar to mine, only his horns were black and leaned back more. His cape did not turn into a tail like mine, and like the rest of his outfit, was pitch black. He had bright red spikes coming out of special holes in the cape, similar to mine. On his lower arms were small curved bright red spikes. The outfit didn't resemble any dragon I'd seen before, which left only one. A Nightfury.

"This is what you think a Nightfury looks like?"

"Why, you got a problem with it?" Rozerea gave me a skeptical look.

"No. Honestly I don't think I could imagine a Nightfury better." I was mostly telling the truth on this. I figured Nightfuries must be black or a similar dark color in order to blend into the night as well as they did.

"That's not all." said Hiccup with his usual nervous smile. He then turned around and as the cape moved small bolts of lightning shot across it. "Offspring of lightning and death."

"Cool." You'd have to be crazy to deny that it was. I then turned to see the other tribute glaring at us. A few of them were skeptical. Usually the parade was meant to show off the most expensive fashion styles. We were dressed up in the almost opposite. Of course we didn't look nearly as ridiculous as they did. I saw one of them dressed up in a pink and green duck outfit.

The anthem started playing showing it was almost time to leave. Cinna walked up to me and handed me a small blue bag full of some weird powder.

"What is it?" I said as I looked into the bag.

"A special fire-powder a friend of mine developed. You simply take a handful, light it by snapping your fingers, and you either have the option of letting it sit in your hand and burn, or hold it up to your mouth and blow a stream of flames into the crowd."

The anthem had stopped playing and Island Five was just leaving. I took a pinch of the powder and snapped my fingers. The powder lit and held for a few seconds. I had expected it to burn or at least be hot, but instead it was pleasantly warm. It was perfect, Hiccup got his lightning, and I got my flames.

By the time we got settled onto the chariot, Island Eleven was leaving. I held out my hand to Hiccup. "Wanna try something different?"

"Sure, we're already dressed like dragons." He took my hand and held it at our sides as our chariot was called and we rolled out. I don't know why, but the moment his hand touched mine I felt something. I couldn't describe it. I had to forget it as the first site of the crowds caught us. The crowds saw us and got on their feet cheering. I looked on one of the big screens that filled the sides of the path we were traveling, I saw how we both looked. The pretty but deadly blue and yellow Nadder, standing next to the mysterious and extremely dangerous Nightfury. I noticed a trail of lightning coming out of Hiccup's cape. I took a handful of the powder. I snapped my fingers and the powder ignited. I turned my head to the crowd to my right, held my hand to my mouth, and blew as hard as I could. A stream of flames jumped out at the crowd and they went berserk. We continued doing this, waving at the crowd, blowing some flames at them every once in a while, until we finally came to the end of the parade.

We entered what I think they call a garage and stopped our chariot. Our stylists and their teams were there to greet us and were ecstatic. We got off the chariot and our teams immediately swarmed us. After much praise and constant overlapping comments, we went back up to our floor to watch a review of the parade.

We ate diner, finally, as we watched the review. When me and Hiccup came up everyone, except us, got overexcited. The trail of lightning looked cool on Hiccup, which was the first time he looked cool at all really. I had to give it to Cinna and his friend, I saw the flames I blew from my hand and they looked just like the kind a Nadder would breathe out of its mouth. When the recap was over me and Hiccup went to bed. Tomorrow training started.

* * *

**Before we move onto chapter 4, I thought it would be an appropriate time for Guest review responses.**

**Kl: First, I would like to thank you for your kind review. I'm glad that you're enjoying the story. Sometimes I like to write the entire story out first, that way I know I can update consistently and not leave readers waiting in case the dreaded ****_writers block_**** occurs. Plus, I've sort of had this in storage for about a year. I only got an account recently, hence why it has been uploaded till now. Not all my stories are that way, because sometimes it is good to get the readers opinion. I am open to suggestions, they just might not always happen. As for everyone liking it, in the end no matter what, there will always be someone who won't like something about it.**


	4. Ch 4: Training

Ch. 4: Training

* * *

The next morning I was woken up by Zeta knocking on my door.

"Wake up. Wake up. Training day." The way she so happily said it disgusted me. I got up and got dressed. When I got down everyone was eating breakfast.

After breakfast I was told to go back to my room and change. When I got to my room I found a set of clothes laid out on my bed. They were a pair of black cargo pants, black boots, and a black shirt with a big blue number 12 on the back of it. I put them on and went back down to find Hiccup wearing the same set of clothes.

I assumed it was a tribute thing. Gobber stepped up to us and told us to have a seat. We sat down and he stood right in front of us.

"We have some time before you have to get to training, so let's talk strategy. First of all, what are your strengths, talents, or whatever else might help you survive in the ring?"

"Well, I'm fairly good with an axe. I can hunt, and I can hold out pretty well in a fist fight."

"Are you kidding?" Hiccup put in. "You're amazing with an axe, you might be the best hunter I know, and you can beat anyone from our island in any kind of fight."

This caught me off gaurd. I wasn't expecting Hiccup to know so much about me. It felt almost like a weakness that he knew this much. But the way he said it made it feel like, admiration.

"This true?" Gobber asked.

"Well, uh, yeah. I suppose it is." I said shrugging my shoulders.

"Anyway, I want you two to spend this first day together. It will make you less likely to get picked on by the other tributes. Astrid, I want you to work on things that don't involve axe work, hunting, or hand-to-hand combat."

"Wait. If those are my strengths, shouldn't I be improving them?"

"Yes, but not now. You're going to need to learn some things that you don't know, that will come in handy in the ring, such as trap making and shelter making. Now Hiccup, what are you're strengths?" I knew this part wasn't going to end up in Hiccup's favor.

"Well, um, I can get into trouble that I need to be rescued from."

"I don't think that will help in your current situation." Gobber said flatly.

"Well other than that, I got nothin." I felt bad for him. He had stood up for me and my abilities. Unfortunately, I didn't know as much, if anything, about him. I wanted to say something, but the reality was that he didn't have any other talents that I was aware of.

"Well then Hiccup. Ya might want to try a little of everything." He took a look at his watch. "Time for you to get going." He gestured us toward the elevator.

* * *

We went down the elevator in silence. I didn't know what to say to him. The elevator stopped on the basement training floor. The doors opened to reveal a concrete room filled with stations full of weapons, obstacles, and other challenges. We stepped out and found the rest of the tributes waiting for us. They did not look the least bit happy with us. They were apparently still sore about standing in our shadow at the parade yesterday.

We joined the group, though maybe a few steps further away, as the head instructor informed us of what was to happen. We were to train all day by going to the stations of our choosing and learn from those stations until we think we've mastered the skill taught there to the fullest of our abilities. There was to be no fighting between tributes and we could have trainers work with us if we wished to spar.

I looked at the other tributes to see if any of them looked like they had the nerve to attack either of us. That was when I noticed the girl from island eleven. She couldn't have been more than twelve. She was short, had dark skin, and curly black hair. I looked at her and I saw nothing but innocence. They didn't honestly expect her to play in these games?

"Hey, you alright?"

Hiccup's nudge at my arm brought me back. "Yeah, I'm fine. Let's get going."

Gobber had told us to stay away from the stations he had deemed _out of bounds_. We first went to the edible plants section. While hunting I knew several edible plants, but since I had a feeling the arena wasn't going to be the forest of Berk, I figured learning a few more wouldn't hurt. Identifying specific details turned out to be one of Hiccup's undiscovered skills. I wondered if there was anything else Hiccup was good at but didn't share with us.

We later moved onto knife throwing. I figured it wasn't one of the _out of bounds _stations on account that axe was my specialty, not knife. Hiccup seemed to be at about my level with this. A knife seemed to be the only weapon he could actually handle without injuring himself or others, most of the time.

At lunch we were all gathered into a big room with several empty tables and several that were full of food. Me and Hiccup grabbed some food and just sat down at an empty table. We were soon after joined by the girl from island eleven. All three of us were silent while we ate.

After several other stations involving traps, finding water, and scavenging. It was time to head back to our floors. Hiccup had done surprisingly well and flew past the scavenging station. He managed to find a use for every single item they threw at him. I might have seen this coming, he did tend to invent different contraptions on a weekly basis.

* * *

Me and Hiccup stood in the elevator in silence, until he finally chose to break it.

"Did you see how young that girl from eleven was?"

"Well, of course I saw her. We sat at the same table." I snapped at him. That girl wasn't exactly my favorite choice in topic.

"I meant before that." He turned to me and gave me a somewhat sad face. I knew he was talking about when I was staring at her just before training.

"Yeah, I saw her." I said, looking away from him and down at my feet. My voice had gone down and sounded depressed as I said it.

"It's sad isn't it. That someone so young and innocent has to be involved in all, _this_."

"Tell me about it." Just then the elevator stopped and opened onto our floor.

We ate dinner while Gobber and Zeta asked us about training. They were shocked to hear about Hiccup's expertise in details and scavenging. After dinner Cinna and Rozera came up to discuss our personal outfits for the Games. Tributes got to meet with their designers and create a signature look that they would wear in the arena. I told Cinna all I wanted was to wear the gear I usually wore at home. After describing it to him and helping him draw it out on a sketch pad he brought, we talked about if there might have been any other designs or anything I may want to add to the outfit. I told him I would think about it. He then left so I could get my sleep.

* * *

The next day went similar to the first, only for Hiccup's sake we went to the tracking station, and spent a little time at the hand-to-hand combat station. I pass tracking with flying colors, with Hiccup scoring between me and average. Hiccup was terrible at hand-to-hand, he couldn't get the hang of the moves he was taught. I just stood by and watched, until I was finally coaxed into joining. I spared with one of the trainers and promptly had him unconscious with a bleeding nose in less than a minute. Everyones eyes turned to me after they had heard the loud smack of my fist colliding with his face.

After the hand-to-hand station I noticed several eyes occasionally glancing at me. One pair of eyes in particular that belonged to the only twelve year old here. At lunch I was temporarily separated from Hiccup when I went to the bathroom. Before I could meet back up with him, I was blocked by the island two boy.

"Hey, name's Cato." He said looking down at me with an arrogant smile. Talk about self obsessed. "I saw what you did in the hand-to-hand station and was wondering if you wanted to join our group."

Every Hunger Games, a group of the toughest tributes tended to join together and wipe out the competition. They then would turn on each other.

"No." I said flatly with an _I don't care_ look on my face.

"Hmph. Your loss." He then walked away. I didn't care. I don't want to be a part of the group that actually enjoys these games, or teams up on people.

We ate lunch and I told Hiccup about Cato. We had once again been joined by the island eleven girl. I, however, didn't care. She could listen in to all the information on Cato she wanted.

After lunch we kept going to stations that would benefit us until we had to leave. When we got back for dinner Gobber once again inquired about our day. We told him everything, including Cato and his invitation to his little mass murder club. He didn't seem surprised. He must've known if my talents were all Hiccup had said they were, that I was sure to get an invitation. After dinner and a little more consulting from our stylists, we went to bed.

The third day of training we decided it was okay to split up. Hiccup went to whatever stations interested him, and I went to whatever stations interested me. Although we split up I still wasn't alone, I was aware that the island eleven girl seemed to be following me everywhere.

I went to the weapon stations first, saving the axe for last. It didn't take long to get used to a different axe. Mine had been custom made so the new one felt a little weird. I wondered if I could somehow get my axe in the arena? I'd ask Gobber about it later. I tried to keep my moves simple, nothing fancy and certainly nothing to draw attention.

* * *

When training was over I met back up with Hiccup and we got in the elevator. Something seemed different about him. He was leaning against the wall and wouldn't stop looking at his feet.

"What's wrong?" I had to find out. The last time he had changed like this was after I told him he was cute.

"Nothing." he replied defensively. Something was defiantly wrong. Hiccup was hardly ever defensive.

"Hiccup?" I gave him one of my signature glares that never failed to get answers. He glanced up and knew he was defeated.

"Well, uh." He sighed with a look of defeat on his face. "Cato approached _me_ this time. He wanted me to join his club."

I only looked at him with a look of confusion and inquiry. There was still something he was hiding from me. Why would Cato want Hiccup in his club? He didn't fit in, he wasn't big, or strong, or as good with weapons as they were.

"He wanted me to join, so that I could tell them about you."

Still confused. "They want you to tell them about me?"

"Apparently the way we've been hanging out makes them think we know a lot about each other."

"But we don't. I mean, I've only just found out things about you no one ever knew. And I still don't think I know everything about you."

"Yeah but, I know everything about you, or at least enough to give them an advantage in battling you."

"Really?" I said, crossing my arms and giving him a skeptical look. I highly doubt he knew me _that_ well.

"Your favorite weapon is your custom made axe, you prefer speed, but still like to keep some muscle just in case, and you will no doubt make your arena gear similar to the gear you wear back on Berk."

I was utterly shocked. All of that was true. He knew more about me than I ever knew about him. All I could do was stand there with my mouth slightly agape. Finally I managed to get out something I was curious about.

"How did you know my axe was custom made?"

"Because, I'm the one who made it."

I didn't know what to say. I could tell he was telling the truth. It shouldn't have surprised me as much as it did. He was Gobber's apprentice after all. Even though Gobber had won the Games, Gobber still went on in his blacksmithing trade. Several years ago I had ordered an axe and wound up with the one I had now. I had no idea how he had managed to get it as perfect as he did. Every time I had gone to get it rebalanced as I grew up it had always come back out a perfect fit for me.

"I-I had no idea."

Before he could answer the elevator stopped and I cut in one last line before the doors opened. "What did you tell him?" he knew I was talking about Cato. The doors opened.

"No." I was relieved. The thought of Hiccup joining Cato's club and giving them information on me was, devastating.

* * *

After dinner I managed to get Gobber alone and asked about getting my axe in the arena.

"The only way I think that will happen is if you're sent it as a gift in the ring. And that'll only work if a sponsor is willing to pay to send it to you, and if he can get his hands on it. But I'll see what I can do about it."

Figuring that was as good as I was going to get, I wandered off to find Cinna so we could make the last adjustments to my arena outfit. After discussing the final details for two hours, I went to bed.

* * *

** That's it for today. Hope you all are enjoying the story. Remember to feel free to review. Tomorrow, it's time for the rankings and the interviews.**


	5. Ch 5: The Interview

Ch.5: The Interview

* * *

I woke up the next morning and ate breakfast as usual. Gobber was giving us some final information about the private sessions we'd be having today.

"Astrid you show them what you're best at and Hiccup you show them what you're best at."

Yeah, that's pretty much all the advice he gave.

* * *

When we got to the private training room, we were told to take a seat and wait to be called. Being from island twelve, that made us last. We waited for several hours as we watched the other tributes go in and come out. Finally it was Hiccup's turn.

I waited for thirty minutes for Hiccup's session to be over. When he finally came out he looked nervous and unsure. Then my name was called.

When I entered the room it looked just like the training room, only less people. I looked to my right and saw a raised platform carrying the Gamemakers. They had been in there so long all their focus was on the buffet of dragon ribs. I had no idea where they got the idea for those.

I went to the axe station and took an axe I was comfortable with. Then I started showing off some of my best moves. After several minutes I saw that only one of them was actually paying attention to me. I'm usually the kind of person who doesn't care if I was being watched or not. However, I felt like if I was going to play their game then I should at least be paid attention to, and not treated like less than a piece of wood on a chess board. They wanted to watch the ribs, then let them watch the ribs. I gestured for the one Gamemaker who was at least watching me to move aside. He got my message and must have agreed with me that the others should at least be watching.

I raised the axe in my hand and threw it at a set of ribs a Gamemaker had just picked up and was holding in mid air. I hit my target slicing the rib just above where his hand was holding it and stuck the axe in the wall. I then strode up to the platform and jumped up grabbing the edge with my hands and hoisting myself up. I gave them all a fierce look as I took the axe and almost effortlessly pulled it out of wall. The blade had been seriously dulled by the toughness of the wall's material. I then grabbed a couple of the ribs and strode back to the edge of the platform. Giving them a short salute, ribs still in hand. I jumped down from the platform, and in one swift motion hit the ground and transformed it into a foward roll. I then walked out of the training room.

As soon as the doors closed I tossed the ribs to the side. I didn't want anything of their's at that moment. I got on the elevator and pressed the button to take me to my floor. As the doors closed I leaned against the back of the elevator and crossed my arms, still giving that fierce glare hoping to burn a hole through the doors and straight into the Gamemakers.

When I got back to our floor everyone seemed to be waiting for me. Thankfully I had blown off some steam on the ride up. I stepped out of the elevator and sat down on the couch facing the TV, waiting for the Gamemakers to release their scores of the tributes. The Gamemakers gave out scores of the tributes every year. The scores were based on how well the Gamemakers thought you would do in the arena. It was scored from one to twelve, one being the worst, twelve being the best. The scores didn't always prove accurate. Usually the higher ups on the scoreboard won often enough though that being ranked high was an almost certain win though, depending on who else was up there with you.

There was still some time though before they announced them. Gobber and Zeta sat on the couch to my right with Cinna and Rozera standing behind them. Hiccup sat next to me. I had gotten used to the least liked Viking on Berk being by my side. Then Gobber started up the conversation I knew was coming.

"So, what happened down in training?" He was a little hesitant. My guess was my face still contained a little of the rage from earlier. Hiccup decided to start.

"Well I just did what I was best at. Inventing things."

"That's it you just invented things?" Zeta asked.

"Yeah although I don't know how much it impressed them. They seemed to be more focused on cooking some kind of food."

"Dragon ribs," I corrected him. "They were staring at them and were about to eat them when I went in."

"There seemed to be only one guy who was actually paying attention."

"Same here."

"Well then, Astrid. What did you do when you went in?"

"When I first went in all but one of the Gamemakers were eyeing the dragon ribs, I took an axe, and showed off some of my best moves. Then I looked and saw that they were still eyeing the ribs. So, I, uh, sort of threw an axe at them." They all looked shocked at me, except for Zeta, she looked horrified.

"I didn't hit any of them. I just cut one of the ribs one of them was holding in half and stuck the axe in the wall. Then I got on the platform took my axe, snatched some ribs, and gave them a short salute with the ribs in my hand and jumped off. Then I just, left." They were still shocked. All was silent until Hiccup finally spoke up.

"What did they look like?" He said with pure curiosity and a grin pulling at his mouth. I was confused by this question but answered anyway. Remembering the look on their faces was one of the first things I had done.

"Shocked and horrified." Suddenly everyone but Zeta burst out laughing. Gobber nearly fell and Cinna was holding onto the back of the couch for support. Hiccup on the other hand had curled up onto the floor laughing. Zeta looked around her in disbelief, she obviously didn't find it funny. I was still a little confused until I realized something. I was the first person to do something like that to the Gamemakers. We have hated the Gamemakers all our lives, they were the ones who had nothing to fear about the Games. And I had given them something to fear. I looked back and I realized that the look that was on their faces was actually funny, though I had been too mad to realize it. I started laughing myself.

We finished laughing just before the ratings began. The ratings ran as usual mostly 4-7s, only a few with 8-10s, Cato being one of the ones with a ten. The girl from island eleven, who's name turned out to be Rue, somehow managed to get an 8. Then we were up. Hiccup was first and he managed to get an eight from the judges, or probably in his case judge, since he said only one of them seemed interested in watching him. We all congratulated him, I had defiantly not seen that coming.

I was up next. The announcer said my name as a picture of me appeared in the corner of the screen with my name under it. The judge looked at the score sheet and hesitated. Was my score really that bad? I knew my axe throwing stunt had something to do with it. The judge looked up.

"Ladies and gentlemen. Astrid Hofferson's score, for the first time in Hunger history, is Thirteen!"

We all just stayed there with our mouths open and our eyes wide. Thirteen. The highest was twelve. How could this be?

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is no joke. We even just got it confirmed strait from the head Gamemaker himself. Astrid Hofferson's score is thirteen! A first in Hunger Games history."

Hiccup was the first one to make any movement. Which was grabbing me into as tight a hug as his arms could muster. I hugged back and for some reason felt a warm fuzzy feeling inside.

"Haha! Congratulations! Hunger Games history!"

After that everyone started cheering me and congratulating me.

"Well, I guess that axe stunt paid off after all." Gobber commented.

"Yeah I guess so."

After the main surge of excitement was burnt off I pulled Gobber to the side.

"Why would they do that? Give me a thirteen when I could have chopped their heads off." I asked him, still in disbelief.

"My best guess is, the one judge saw your skill and told them about that. Then I guess they saw your temper, actions, and attitude as, I guess you could say, the perfect combination for the winner of the Games." With that he walked off. Leaving me by myself.

I guess that kind of made sense. The Games were most certainly not won by nice people. People like Hiccup. The thought sent a cold chill through my spine. Hiccup? A killer? In the short time I knew him, killer, was not the first thing that came to mind. Kill in defense yes, but defiantly not for fun or even to win the Games. Even though he showed potential, I doubted that he would survive. Granted, that doubt had shrunk with his skills shown in training, but it was still there.

"You don't look very cheery for someone who just scored an impossible score." Hiccup said as he walked up with two glasses of punch in his hands. "I thought you looked like you could use something to drink." He said handing me the glass in his right hand. So kind. So thoughtful. How in the world could anyone expect him to even participate in the games?

"Thanks." I took the glass from his hand and took a sip. "Obviously thirteen is not impossible to get if I got it."

"Well you always were an overachiever."

"Maybe, only problem is, I'll have a target on my back from now until the end of the Games."

"You'll probably win."

"Maybe. There's always room for error."

"Don't think that way."

* * *

After that Cinna and Rozera walked up and told us it was time to get to the stage for the interviews. We followed them onto a small hovercraft and it took off for the interview prep rooms. We got to the rooms and I got myself bathed. When I got out I dried off and put a robe on. I stepped into the next room to see Cinna smiling at me. He was standing next to a chair that had my clothes laid out on it.

Surprisingly enough the clothes were not fancy or glamorous or anything like that. They were a pair of blue jeans, black boots, a white shirt, and a blue leather jacket with gold shoulder pads. I looked at the clothes and then to Cinna. I was confused, normally people dressed up for their interviews. I at least expected something that looked similar to what even the normal people of the Flagcity wore, which was somewhat fancy in itself. This however looked the complete opposite.

"What do you think?" He asked.

"It's defiantly different."

"Your story about the axe and the Gamemakers gave me the idea that your image should be a rebellious one."

Rebellious. Well, once again Cinna has managed to get me an outfit that fit my personality perfectly. I defiantly had the rebel image, not to mention the attitude as well.

"You've managed to fit my personality again Cinna." I said giving him a smile and placing my hands on my hips. "Thanks."

"Your welcome." He returned to me with a smile. "Oh that reminds me." He walked over to a dresser and pulled out a small bag. It was the same one that held the firepowder that I had used in the parade. He handed it to me and I took it.

"What's this for?"

"In case they want to see the fire again. Or in case you want to have some fun." His smile widened as he said that last part and I couldn't help but grin mischievously as well.

"Well, I'll leave you to get changed. No need to do your hair. It's perfect as it is." With that he left the room. He seemed to think that my hair style seemed to fit everything about me. Although, the bangs covering my left eye defiantly had the word rebel written on it.

I got changed and went out into the waiting room. I looked around and saw even more reasons to thank Cinna. All the other girls dresses looked, um, "fancy" if that was what you could call it, but uncomfortable. One was so tight around the girl's heels that I was surprised she could even walk, and apparantly she was too. Her steps where tiny but she managed them. I saw the rest of the tributes eyeing me suspiciously and I didn't have to ask why. I simply gave them a devious smile, leaned back with my hands behind my head and my feet crossed in front of me, and relaxed. Which was more than any of them could do since they had to keep their clothes straight. I didn't care what my clothes looked like, even if I wasn't going for the rebel look.

"Well, I can't say it doesn't suit you."

I recognized that voice.

I opened my eyes to see Hiccup standing in front of me. He had his arms folded in front of him. He was wearing a green sweatshirt with a hood (he had the hood down), dark green pants, brown sneakers, and a brown sleeveless vest over the sweatshirt. All in all, just a different version of what he usually wore.

"Can't say that doesn't suit you either."

The anthem started playing as the interview's host, Caesar Flickerman, came out onto the stage. The who-knows-how-old host came out with the same smile I'm sure he had when he was in his twenties. He still looked like he was in his twenties. The only problem was that my mom told me he was the host in his twenties when she was six, which was thirty-four years ago. No doubt he still looked that way due to some kind of surgery.

If there was one thing Flickerman knew how to do, it was how to please the crowd. He smiled and waved to the audience in his blue tuxedo that matched his blue hair. He always wore a different color each year. The previous year had been green. To be honest he looked like a giant walking talking piece of snot that had a human face glued onto it.

Flickerman sat down and introduced the show and called out the girl from island one to begin the interview. It was almost two hours before the guy from district eleven was called in front of me. When his five minutes were up it was my turn. I got up and ready to walk out there.

_ Just remember, Be Yourself._

"And now it is time to talk with the history making, tough, but beautiful dragon from island twelve. Astrrriiiddd. Hoff-er-son." He made sure stress my name for effect. He stretched his arm out in my direction queuing my enterance.

I started to walk out in big steps and heard the audience go crazy when they saw me. Although I could tell they were asking the people around them about my outfit. About halfway there I spun around and held out my arms to show off the leather jacket. I then returned to my normal walk over to the chair and sat down. I then leaned back hands behind my head like earlier, only this time I put my feet up on top of the coffee table that sat in between me and Flickerman.

Flickerman quieted the crowd and began the interview. I decided to lower my feet and just lean against the arm of the chair towards him.

"So, Astrid Hofferson. The Deadly Nadder. How does it feel to have scored an impossibly perfect score in training?"

"Shocking."

"Before we go any further I just have to ask. What is with the outfit?"

"Why? You got a problem with it." I leaned a little closer and put a mean look on my face to try to intimidate him. It worked. Then I turned the look into a smile and drifted back. He smiled back obviously getting the sort-of joke I had played on him.

"You're very intimidating." he said with a knowing look on his face, still smiling.

"Thank you. And as for the clothes, I thought it would be more realistic for people to see what I am."

"And what is that?"

I put my right hand into the left side of my jacket pretending to scratch under my arm, when really I was putting into the hidden pouch Cinna had made for me to keep the firepowder in. I took a small handful and put it over my face like I was wiping something off. I then inhaled the powder. I quickly scratched off any excess that wasn't inhaled and gave Flickerman a kind look.

"Dangerous." I then made a small lurch towards him as I blew through my nose as hard as I could. It was enough to ignite the fake flames and send flames coming out of my nose as I made the movement. The flames quickly ignited and disappeared with my breath. Flickerman jumped back and his face seemed to change partially into the aged look he should have looked like. The crowd gasped, but quickly started applauding my performance. Flickerman quickly joined in and even started laughing a bit.

"Clever. Very clever. Any more surprises you have in store for us?"

"Now I couldn't tell you that, or else they wouldn't be a surprise in the Games." I somewhat lied on this. I had nothing planned for the Games, or at least, nothing set in stone anyway. But still, I could possibly manage to work up a surprise they might like.

"So how were things back home when you left?"

"My parents, at least, were emotional. I don't know about anyone else's feelings about me leaving."

"You're not very much liked on your island, is that what you're saying?"

"Yeah I guess you could say that. I don't think they see me as anything other than another Dragon Killer sent to the Games."

"Well if they didn't support you then, I'm sure they will now. How did your parents take it?"

"As well as they could."

"I assume you probably promised them that you would win?"

"No." the audience gave a small gasp. "My father always told me to never make a promise unless you're 100% positive you can keep it."

"And you're not 100% positive you can keep you're promise?"

"I'm positive that anything can happen in the Hunger Games." With that the timer beeped and my interview was over.

"Well Miss Hofferson, it was a pleasure talking with you and I wish you the best of luck in the Hunger Games." I shook his hand and walked off stage. Just as I reached the steps I turned back to Flickerman. I had managed to sneak another inhale of firepowder and breathed it out at him like last time. He didn't jump as much but he and the audience applauded more than they did the first time. I then took a seat and waited for Hiccup's interview to be over.

Hiccup came out similar to my entrance, minus the spin, and sat down. One of the first things Flickerman mentioned was, unsurprisingly, Hiccup's clothes.

"So I see you're going for a similar look to Miss Hofferson's eh?"

"Not really. I just thought that I should wear something comfortable since I was going to be stuck back there for two hours." He said, stretching for effect. The audience seemed to like his sense of humor, as did Flickerman.

They then went on to Hiccup's father which seemed to upset him a little bit. Which was understandable. For as long as I could remember Stoick had always been disappointed in his son. He still loved his son and would mourn his passing, but it was probably still a rough subject for Hiccup. Then Flickerman brought up the subject of girls.

"So, do you have a girl? I mean I'm sure a guy as cute as you are is sure to have a girlfriend."

"No. I mean, girls don't usually like to go around with the village disappointment. Not to mention someone they might break in half if they hugged him."

"Well then do you have your eye on any women?"

"Well," before he could get any further, the buzzer went off signaling the end of the interview and the show. Flickerman gave Hiccup a similar farewell to the one he gave me. I rejoined with Hiccup and we went back to our floor.

Everyone had been watching the interviews live. Everyone told us we did a good job. Cinna congratulated me for my use of the firepowder. After a while I decided to go to bed. Tomorrow, the Games begin.


	6. Ch 6: Realization

Ch. 6: Realization

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I couldn't sleep. I had laid there for an hour and a half but sleep still evaded me. I decided to walk around to see if that would tire me out. I then noticed for the first time a stairway leading to the roof. I decided to head up there. Nothing around here was helping me fall asleep.

When I got to the top I looked around and saw that it was occupied by only one. Hiccup. He was sitting near the edge of the roof overlooking the city. I tried to be loud so I wouldn't startle him. He heard me and looked up at me as I sat down next to him. I curled me knees and laid my arms on them.

"Couldn't sleep either huh." I decided to start off.

"Nope. Too much going on."

"The partying's not _that_ loud."

"I'm not talking about the parties." I knew what he was talking about. The Hunger Games.

"Don't worry you'll do fine."

"Oh please, everyone knows you will win."

"Hey. It's just like I said at the end of the Interview. Anything can happen. You just need to-"

"What I need is to get away from here." He cut me off. I would have retorted but a sad face suddenly overtook him. "I don't want to die. At least, not now."

"Neither do I."

"Yeah, but I don't want to kill anyone either. I mean, they're just kids. _We're_ just kids. You saw that island eleven girl." I knew what he was getting at. He didn't want to kill anyone, even if it was in self defense. I didn't want to kill anyone either, especially Rue.

"I don't want to kill anyone either. But I don't want to die as well. The only way you get out is if you win."

"What if...Nah, you'd think it's stupid."

"Probably, but it's not like we got a lot of options."

"True." He sighed. "There might just be another way out of the Games. One that might not involve killing anyone in order to win."

"What is it?"

"It's not something I can tell you." I looked at him scrutinizingly. "It's something I have to show you." He then got up and walked for the exit. He opened it and just before he left he turned.

"In case something goes wrong, take care of him, and...I'm glad you like that headband I gave you." He left.

I completely forgot the first thing he said. He made the headband. He's my secret admirer. He's in love with me.

This was a lot to take in. I felt like I should have seen this coming. The worst part was it made me realize I felt something towards him too. I wasn't sure if it was love or something else. I had never been in a relationship, and hardly been in so much as a friendship. I didn't know what it was I felt. All I knew was, it was time to go to bed, before anything else complicated my thinking.

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**So that's it for now. Tomorrow, the games begin. Sorry chapter 6 is short. But this seemed like an appropriate time for the chapter to end. Plus the chapter before was extra long. Anyway, remember that feedback is appreciated. **


	7. Ch 7: The Hunger Games Begin

**It's time for the part we've all been waiting for...**

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Ch. 7: The Hunger Games Begin

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The next day we were escorted to a hovercraft just after we ate breakfast. We went to the roof as the hovercraft, well, _hovered_ over us. Two ladders where let down. One for me and one for Hiccup. I hadn't spoken a word to him since he told me about my headband last night. I had been too afraid to say anything. We were about to head to an arena where we would be made enemies, and he was in love with me and I cared about him. I still wasn't sure if love was the proper word for what I felt.

When we got on we sat down and metal bands immediately closed over our arms. One of the crew told us it was a precaution so that they could implant the tracker. She then stuck a needle in my left bicep and injected something. When she took the needle out I could see the skin seemed slightly raised, and I could see the trackers light flash through my skin. I then saw them do the same thing to Hiccup. After his tracker was embedded the metal bands receded back into the chair's arms.

The journey took a while and though the windows of the hovercraft where usually see through. These had been blacked out to hide our location from us. After what my guess was an hour of flight, we landed. We made for the hovercraft's off ramp and when it opened, saw that we were in an underground installation. We were then escorted to our prep rooms for the games. We reached my room and Hiccup was escorted past me. Since I may never see him again I spoke up.

"Good luck."

He turned and gave me one of his goofy smiles, "You too." I then stepped into the room.

I looked to find Cinna waiting for me with my outfit. The outfit we had worked together to design was like the one I usually wore at home, with some slight modifications. The blue sleeveless shirt and the boots were the same. The black pants had multiple zippered pockets on them all along the legs for me to store stuff in. It made it easier for them to catch on things, but if I was in a desert arena it wouldn't matter. The armbands were also the same as the ones I had back on Berk. The skirt was almost exactly the same, except that the leather looked newer and less worn. For the life of me, I had no idea how Cinna had managed to sneak it in with the metal spikes on it. I also noticed he had managed to sneak in a pair of metal shoulder pads just like the ones I had back home. One thing was for certain, Cinna was full of surprises.

I went into the dressing room to change and stepped back out. It all felt like the clothes I wore back home. I did, however, notice that there seemed to be something in the pouch on my skirt. I opened it up to see the last of the firepowder was inside.

"I know you'll find some use for it out there." He told me.

"Isn't this stuff considered illegal in the Games?"

"There is only one rule in the Hunger Games, and I doubt standing on a platform for a minute has anything to do with powder." He smiled mischievously at me and I couldn't help but give him the same smile back. Me and Cinna, the two all-star trouble makers. I could momentarily imagine the pranks we could have pulled off on Berk if we had both been there when we were younger.

I then hugged Cinna, though making sure to lean in so I didn't hurt him with any of the spikes on my skirt. I then whispered in to him, "Thank you."

"No. Thank you." He whispered back.

Lastly we did my hair in the single braid with bangs hanging over my left eye and put on my token, my favorite headband. The one that turned out to be from Hiccup. I had considered leaving it, knowing it would remind me of him. Then I decided to put it on. If I felt alone I could think of it and feel like part of Hiccup was there with me. And if I won, then part of him would have won as well.

Then I thought of what he said last night. _"There might be another way out of the Games. One that might not involve killing anyone in order to win." _Then what did he say? _ "It's not something I can tell you. It's something I have to show you."_ That settled it. If I can, and if neither of us gets killed, my mission will be to find Hiccup. If there was another way out of this, one in which at least both of us would live. I'd take it.

The anthem started playing and Cinna motioned for me to enter a glass tube near the back of the room. I was nervous. Cinna stopped me just before I stepped in and I turned to look at him.

"I'm not allowed to bet. But if I could, it would be on you. Fight hard, and stay alive out there." He then pressed his lips to my forehead. He cared about me, more than anyone - other than my parents and apparently Hiccup- did anyway. I then realized, for the first time in my life. I had a friend.

"Goodbye Cinna." I couldn't help a small tear that seemed to have made its way into my eye.

"Goodbye Astrid. The Deadly Nadder." Tears had begun to form in his eyes as he smiled at me one last time. I smiled back and stepped into the tube. A glass panel covered the opening. I put my hand to the glass and Cinna did the same.

The platform I was standing on started to rise. I wiped the tears that had been forming as fast as I could. Cinna was my friend, but I still had my Dragon Girl image. And if I had wanted any chance at getting gifts from sponsors, I had to keep that image up. Of course there was only one gift I was looking for at this moment, my axe. After that, I didn't care what I got.

When the arena came into view the first thing I noticed was trees and a blue sky. Then when the platform was in its final raised position, I looked around and saw I was in a circular patch of green grass, surrounded on all sides by forest. I saw the other tributes around me, we were all positioned in a circle. I couldn't see the tributes across from me due to a large cavelike structure in the middle of the field. I looked to my right and just before the cave blocked my view, I could see Hiccup.

Like me he had decided to take on the look he usually wore. Only he had obviously made some helpful improvements. His pants and boots looked the same, it was his shirt and vest that were different. His shirt was now a much more dark leaf colored green. His vest wasn't made of fur like his old one, it was still brown, although now it had patches of green to help with camouflage. I also noticed a large amount of pockets were on the vest.

He looked at me and I turned my attention to the ground. All over were various items, backpacks, food bags, jackets, and weapons, lots and lots of weapons. Maybe under different circumstances I would have liked seeing the wide variety of deadly tools. I had almost always been a bit of a weapon enthusiast. However, these weapons were meant to be used to kill me. I quickly look over the ground to find stuff I could grab before running away. My idea was to grab as much useful stuff as possible without taking too much time in the initial battleground. Defiantly a backpack and a jacket, I had no idea how cold it might get. I also needed to grab a weapon in case no one could send my axe.

I noticed the items I wanted and how I wanted to grab them. No doubt the sixty second wait is almost over. I readied myself for when the alarm goes off. What I'm sure was a few seconds felt like hours have gone by when a loud buzzer went off and me along with it.

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**Trollololololol. Couldn't resist. :)**

**Don't worry though, from here on out it should be all action and suspense.**


	8. Ch 8: Betrayal

Ch. 8: Betrayal

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I ran as fast as I could towards the cave. We were all positioned about 50 yards away from the cave. When I was 25 yards away I reached down and grabbed the bow and arrow that were lying there. I wasn't the best archer in the world, but I needed a weapon in case the plan with my axe failed. I then turned a full 180 and started dashing in the opposite direction. On my way I slung the bow and it's quiver over my shoulder and grabbed a few other items that I saw. I first grabbed a bundle of rope and weaved my arm through it's loop. I then grab a medium weight jacket, two backpacks that had something in them, a sleeping bag, and another bundle of rope.

I reached the edge of the clearing and turned around to see Rue dash into the woods with a backpack. I then looked a little more and saw one of the tributes get taken out by another. Then I see something green and brown run into the forest. Hiccup. He had run to my right and was probably trying to get as much distance between himself and everyone else in the arena. Which is what I should have been doing. I turned back to the cave and saw someone turn to look at me. I quickly turned around and ran into the forest in order to lose them, should they try to catch me.

I ran through the forest, making left and right turns at random intervals till I was sure I had lost anyone following me. I then sat down on a fallen log and put the stuff I had gathered down before me. I started figuring out what I should do with it. The bow would be needed if my axe didn't arrive, and might still come in handy even if it did. The rope I was sure I could find some use for, maybe some traps, or maybe I could poke some holes in the sleeping bag and turn it into a hammock. Either way there was a lot of rope. The jacket I decided would be needed should there be cold nights. I then opened up the backpacks to see what they held. The packs themselves were black and bright yellow. I'd have to change the yellow, stands out too much in all this forest. Inside were a water bottle each- empty-, some beef jerky, and some kind of trail mix. That was were the similarities ended between the contents. Some of the contents were odd. Matches, could be useful. Some more rope, can never get enough. Small knife, you never know. Binoculars, kind of cheap but useful. I had been taught and had learned firsthand that anything can be helpful in the wilderness, however I still hadn't the slightest idea how _breath mint_s were going to help me in my current situation.

The sun was setting so I put on the jacket. I carried the quiver on my back. I took the rope and carried it over my shoulder/across my chest. Then I put everything else except the bow into one of the backpacks and slung it onto my back. I then put the bow over my shoulder. The sleeping bag I had managed to stuff into the backpack, leaving only the second backpack. I took out the small knife and started cutting up the second backpack. I doubled back the way I came and made a fake trail using pieces of the backpack to lead them away. I made the trail split off multiple times before going back to the log I had been sitting on earlier.

The sun was almost gone so I climbed the biggest tree there and laid the sleeping bag down on one of the branches. The tree was different from the ones on Berk, because the branches were wide enough for me to lie on them and still have an inch to spare from the edge. Not much, but when you compare it to your average tree branch it is quite large. Leaning back I did the one thing I could, sleep.

* * *

I was woken by the anthem. I looked up to the sky and saw the faces of the tributes that died today, with their island number underneath. Today's casualties were both from islands six and seven, and the girl from nine. The images disappeared and I went back to sleep.

* * *

The next morning I woke up, repacked the sleeping bag, and went to find the second thing on my list of priorities (the first being staying alive), find water. I erased any signs of my being there and went off away from the fake trail I had made the day before. Then I just kept walking.

I seemed to be walking for hours. The sun was already at its peak. I decided to take some bites of the beef jerky. I was stuck walking through a denser part of the forest. My intended direction probably being thrown off by having to weave through all the trees.

I eventually came across a footprint in a patch of dirt. It was going to my left. The wind had picked up last night, and the track was clean enough that it must have been left there earlier today. I took off my bow and walked slower with constant vigilance. The footprint was made by a tribute who might still be nearby, and I wasn't about to get caught off gaurd.

I kept up the slow pace for about an hour before I found a small semi underground stream. The area had become rocky and the stream was in a small crevasse beneath me. Now the question came, do I go upstream or downstream? Downstream would lead me closer to the clearing where no doubt Cato's club would be setting up base. Upstream, I had no idea what waited for me upstream. Possibly the tribute who's footprint I had spotted earlier. I decided to go downstream, at least I knew more about where that led.

* * *

I started to feel the early effects of dehydration when the crevasse opened up enough for me to stick a water bottle down into and fill it up. It looked clear enough, but I decided to wait till I had gone to a bit more defendable position before I set camp to boil it clean.

I was glad I had held off as I found where the water led. It was a small pond of some sorts. It also had a large amount of trees surrounding it. With a few hours of daylight left I ate some trail mix and set up camp. I decided to position myself on one of the branches of a tree. I then cut up some of the rope to set some traps. Mostly the kind that hang the person upside down by their ankle. The rope was a dark brown color so thankfully it didn't stand out too much. As dusk hung overhead I lit a small fire and boiled two bottles of water. The second I had filled from the pond. While they boiled I stuck some mud onto the yellow parts of the pack to help camouflage it. I quickly drank one, filled it back up, and started boiling it again. I then drank half of the second one before refilling it and putting it back on to boil as well. When they were both boiled I took them off and put out the fire just as night came on. I walked in the mud around the pond a little before leading off into the forest again. I went back to camp through an area where hopefully my footprints didn't show. I then got into my tree and leaned back against the trunk and went to sleep.

* * *

I was woken up by the anthem and then looked to the sky. Up in the sky was a big patch of darkness without any stars. The darkness was soon replaced by the images of the tributes who died today. I watched as three faces lit up the sky. There was the girl from three, the girl from island four, and the boy from island ten. When the showing was over the sky went dark again.

I sat there and thought. _Eight dead, sixteen remaining._

I didn't know what I thought about Hiccup not being dead. On the one side he was still alive, on the downside he will probably be killed within the next few days. I sat there thinking about what would happen as sleep slowly overcame me.

* * *

I was woken by a twig snapping. It was faint but the experience of being in here had already heightened my senses. I turned towards the direction it came from. I rummaged through my backpack until I grabbed the binoculars. It was night but if he/she/or they where far out I might have a better chance of seeing them with these. It turned out these weren't cheap binoculars, they were merely disguised that way to hide that they were also night vision binoculars. I was surprised when I looked through and everything was clear and green.

I could see a group of people carrying torches and flashlights. The first I recognized instantly, Cato. This must be his band of _merry men_ out trying to find me. My gut told me my score of thirteen had defiantly made me threat number one, so naturally Cato wants me dead. I then looked at the other five. There was the other island two tribute. They were then followed by the island one tributes, the island five boy tribute, and Hiccup. Wait...HICCUP!?

I zoomed the binoculars as close as I could and saw Hiccup walking behind them through the forest. What was _he_ doing with _them_!?

My question was soon answered.

"Yo, Berk boy. You sure she came this way?"

I watched his lips move as he responded,"Positive, she left that ankle hanger trap I saved you from being caught in remember."

He was observant. Especially if he saw it at night.

They approached where my fireplace was. Oh no. Hiccup would know the footprints were a trick. He obviously directed them away from the fake trail I had left. He said he knew everything about me.

I had half a mind to take my bow and shoot Hiccup dead right there. Another quarter told me that would only lead to my death. The final quarter was nagging at something else but drowned out by the other two opinions. I decided to wait for him to give me away, then kill him.

"Hey, here's a fireplace. And footprints. She couldn't have gotten far."

Hiccup knelt over the fire's ashes, then the footprints. "Yep she defiantly went this way." pointing to where the tracks headed.

"Are you sure? Why would she put up traps just to go to a different spot?"

"Positive. Believe me I know her better than anyone here. She knows better than to stick near water."

_Well you obviously don't know me as well as you think_. I thought to myself.

They walked away and once their torches had disappeared I leaned back and tried to go back to sleep. I couldn't. I just felt **so** angry with Hiccup. He betrayed me, lied to me. He told me about Cato and his offer and lied straight to my face. I then realized something, if he was going to help Cato kill me, then he not only lied on the elevator, but on the roof as well. He practically said he loved me and now he's trying to kill me. I thought of the headband. I considered throwing it into the pond or in a random direction and leaving it. But then I realized he probably lied about the headband too. Not to mention it was my token from home. The one true piece of Berk I had left. Plus, the fact that it was my favorite headband didn't hurt either. I decided to keep it. But now I had a new mission. First survive, then give Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third a painful death.

I went to sleep thinking of ways I would kill Hiccup. I was so focused on how to kill him, that I didn't notice the package attached to a parachute land right in my lap.

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** Dun dun Duuuhhhh! Hope you guys are enjoying the story. Remember to feel free to review and comment. **


	9. Ch 9: Hunting

**I know some of you guys know this but my grammar isn't the best. So I would like to apologize for any past and future errors. Grammar and probably about half of the things covered in your basic English course are not my specialty. Also, sometimes when I'm writing I get so caught up writing the story that I accidentally switch tenses. So one sentence might be past tense, then the next might be present tense. So I'm sorry for any errors I missed while editing and I hope they don't throw you off too much. Anyway, on with the story!**

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Ch. 9: Hunting

* * *

I woke up to find something silver sitting on my lap in front of me. It was a large silver case attached to a silver parachute. I lifted it up to find it was fairly heavy. I detached the parachute from the case and stuffed it into the backpack. The pack was full enough that some of the chute stuck out of the top. I then unlocked the latches on the case and lifted the lid. There sitting inside, was my axe.

The sunlight was reflected off the metal head as I took it out of the case. Checking to make sure no one was around I looked up towards the sky.

"Thanks Gobber, and anyone else who pitched in to get me this." I then lifted my axe overhead with one hand, as my own personal kind of salute.

That morning I ate two slices of beef jerky and some trail mix. I was going to go hunting for food today. The jerky and mix weren't going to last forever. I packed my stuff but left the traps, contrary to what Hiccup said last night, I intended to stick around here as long as possible.

Hiccup. That name now sent a surge of anger through me every time I thought it. That lying backstabber. And to think that I actually felt sorry for him being stuck here with me. Well I'm not sorry anymore. Being stuck here only means I am actually _allowed_ to kill him. The only person I felt sorry for now was Chief Stoick. He's been a good Chief, and a good man. He wouldn't go around telling people lies and joining with people like Cato. Hiccup, no matter how big a liar, backstabber, or disappointment he was, was still his son. I only felt bad that Stoick would have to watch me give his only son an agonizing death. Although since Hiccup came up constantly through this thought process, the bad feelings were instantly replaced by rage.

I walked through the woods as carefully as I would back home. I came to an area where there were less trees, but more shrubs. I soon came across a doe grazing. I quietly took off the bow and notched an arrow. I took aim and took in a deep breathe. The doe's head perked up and I let the arrow fly. I stood there for a second as I saw the doe lying there with an arrow in between the eyes. I knew I was good with a bow, but I didn't know that I was _that_ good. As I dragged the carcass back to my camp I wondered if my imagining Hiccup's face on the doe had anything to do with my suddenly perfect skill.

When I got the carcass back I skinned it and chopped off some of the meat and put it in the case I had received my axe in. I then took the case, my axe, and some matches off into the woods. When I reached a place with few trees and no shrubs I gathered some wood and started a fire. I then put the meat on some makeshift spits and let it roast over the fire. While waiting for it to cook and the possible tributes the smoke would attract, I practiced with my axe. It had seemed like forever since I had used it, but the skill I had with my custom axe had not deteriorated in the slightest.

I practiced an hour occasionally checking on the meat to either turn it or see if it was done. When it was done I took a piece and ate it. Rotisserie Deer may not be the tastiest, especially when you lack salt and a few other seasonings, but it defiantly helped you regain your energy. I packed up the pieces I didn't eat and headed back to camp.

When I got back to my camp I found the carcass already attracting flies. So I cut a few more pieces, placed them in the case to cook later, and dumped the body in the pond. I was taught that a rotting carcass would attract predators, however, I had never been told what staying near a carcass that was rotting in water would do. My money was that predators would still come, but I was fine with that. I would be in my tree, the predators would be on the ground, and I had my axe if any of them tried to climb up and eat me. Plus attracting predators had two advantages. One, they might get caught in one of my traps, which meant more food. And two, they might help deter any tributes who try to come by here looking for me.

I got out my water bottles and drank another one and a half of them. I then got in my tree and waited for my "company" to arrive. After a few hours the sun was starting to set. So I started another small fire. I drank the last half bottle and refilled them. I set them to boil and waited. As darkness set in I could feel something's eyes on me. I didn't bother to look for them, just gripped my axe closer. The water was finished boiling and I put out the fire. I then quickly got back up in the tree and sat there. I didn't go to sleep, still feeling something's eyes on me.

I was just about to fall asleep when a dogs howl came from the bushes right below me. I then thought I heard something else, a footstep. This time it was from the direction from where I had misled Cato and his group. I then heard a rustle below me followed by growling in the distance. I then heard yelling and barking as I could barely see the bushes shaking in the darkness. Remembering my binoculars I took them out and looked in the direction the noise came from. Through a break in the bushes I could see a hand in the air, but it was then blocked by fur. Probably one of the wolves I had attracted with the carcass. The yelling then stopped but the barking continued as I put away the binoculars and leaned back.

I was a little shocked, I had attracted the wolves as a means of protection, and they had unknowingly done their job. It wasn't that it was my defense system that got the guy killed that shocked me. On Berk death was a normal thing and this was not the first time I had seen someone killed by animals. But no matter how many deaths you've seen, there is something about watching a man or woman get torn to pieces that never gets easier.

I heard the anthem and looked to the sky as more faces and island numbers showed up. This time it was girl from five, and both from eight.

_ Three more down, sixteen left to go._ The sky went dark and I could hear the wolves coming back to the tree I was sitting in. The only problem with my protection was, they would attack me as well.

The next morning I woke up and remembered that my "protection" was waiting below me when I went to sleep. I looked down and saw a pack of ten wolves sitting at the base of the tree. Eight of them were asleep, while two were sitting there watching me. I smiled and gave them a small wave with my hand. I know it's useless trying to mess with the mind of an animal that way, but the way they tilted their heads at my gesture made me smile a bit.

I decided I had enough food and water that I could afford to stay in my tree for the day. My furry admirers would alert me to someone else's presence nearby. I didn't want to get rid of them just yet. They had already proven helpful in taking down one tribute. Plus they were good company, or at least better than the other tributes. They weren't helpful conversation wise, but at least they weren't giving me away by barking.

As the day went on I moved around to some of the other branches. I was looking for a way to get away through the trees in case someone found me. As I climbed through the trees my entourage of ten followed me on the ground. I found a decent path that would allow me to get away easily, but give anyone on the ground difficulty. I even raced through it once and found the terrain below even gave the wolves some difficulty.

When sunset came I ate a piece of my roasted deer. It was cold, but people from Berk learn to enjoy cold food. Especially when you pack light on hunting trips. I finished one of the bags of trail mix and drank all my water.

I knew my protection wouldn't stick around. They were apparently too focused on me to go looking for the carcass I had dropped in the pond. Besides, by now it was probably rotted enough that they wouldn't eat it anyway. They'll soon get hungry enough that they'll leave me and go hunting for some other prey.

That night I learned that only two tributes died today. The boy from four, and the girl from ten. The killing was slowing down, which probably meant the Gamemakers would be throwing in obstacles to drive us together soon.

The next morning I learned that I was right, the wolves had left. It was still dark out so I slowly climbed down to make sure the wolves had left for sure. Once I was sure that they had, I refilled the water bottles and lit a fire to boil the water. While the water was boiling I went to see what I could salvage from the boy who the wolves had killed. There wasn't much, the backpack was shredded, and any food in it was eaten. I found a small first aid kit and another water bottle. I took them back to camp, filled the bottle, and set it to boil with the others. I got my pack down and went through what I could leave to make room for the med kit. I decided to dump the parachute, while it could be useful the silver might attract to much attention anyway. I took out some more meat, unfortunately it was going bad as well. I ate what was still edible and then dumped the rest. I was going to have to go hunting again. I fit the med kit in and then packed the water bottles.

A few hours before midday I set out to go looking for a new place to camp. I came across some berry bushes along the way and ate the edible ones I recognized along the way. I stopped to take a drink when I heard something. A twig snapping. I looked in the direction it came from and there they were, Cato, his club, and _Hiccup_. Six on one, and I didn't know how well they were in battle. Taking them head on could be suicide. I am good, but I'm not one to go biting off more than I could chew.

I ran in the opposite direction from them. Leaving behind the bow and quiver I had set down, but I did remember to bring my axe. They must have heard me because I could hear them shouting my location and chasing after me. I ran through the woods and saw before me a chance to escape. I jumped off a rock and through the air to land a firm one handed grasp on a branch. I hoisted myself up and climbed higher as they slowed down to a stop around the base of the tree. I was sure they were looking up at me, watching me climb. When I thought I had reached a safe height I looked back down at them. They were all standing there, probably trying to come up with a strategy to kill the "Dragon Girl."

"How's it going down there?" I shouted to them. I might as well distract them from their planning with some nonfriendly conversation.

"Not too bad, but you seem to be in a bit of a spot." Cato yelled back.

"Oh I'm fine up here. I'm already set for life."

We all couldn't help but smile at the ease in my voice as I called back, acting as if they weren't trying to kill me. Cato then started climbing, but he was a warrior not a hunter. He was grabbing onto a branch below me when I jumped onto it, landing on his hands. He let go with a yell and dropped until he landed on a branch in a **very** _uncomfortable_ way.

"Ooooohhh." We said in unison at the sight of his landing. Some of them even winced at the thought of landing like that.

I had to give it to Cato though, he was tough. He started climbing back up after me again. This time he moved away a bit so that he wasn't climbing directly beneath me. He was about two branches over and two branches down. Fortunately there was only a branch right in the middle of the square that could be formed between us. I wedge my axe into the trunk so it wouldn't fall. I then jumped arms first toward the branch. My hands grabbed onto the branch and I used my momentum to swing and kick Cato off of his branch again. This time he kept falling to the ground, hitting branches along the way to slow him down. I climbed back onto the branch my axe was embedded above and looked down with a smile as I saw a downed Cato obviously in a lot of pain. He was defiantly going to have plenty of bruises come tomorrow. He got back up, slowly, and started giving orders.

"Hiccup, you're from her island, you go after her."

"Are you kidding me? I could barely hoist myself up onto the first branch, let alone knock her down from there." I noticed all their weapons were close range, meaning as long as I stayed far enough away, they couldn't hit me.

"Fine, Glitter, get some firewood, we might be here a while. Hiccup, when it gets dark you have first watch. Narsca you'll have the watch after Hiccup. Gregson, you're with me. Toby, head back to base and see how Gears is doing, then come back here."

Glitter must have been the island one girl. Only someone from One would have a name like Glitter. Narsca, must be from island two. Gregson I recognized as the other island one tribute. Toby was from five, and I think Gears was from three.

I sat back and watched my enemies make camp around the tree. I started looking around for an escape. Unfortunately, there wasn't one. I hadn't noticed this when I first climbed up, but there weren't any other trees nearby that I could jump to. I would have to wait till nightfall and see if Hiccup took guard duty seriously, or if he would mess up just as bad as he did with every other job he was given.

* * *

**Guest review responses:**

**Kl: Yes, there is a curveball that will be thrown in chapter 11. Sorry for any grammatical errors. I try to find and fix them, but some do slip by. And you're welcome for the review response. Hope you enjoy the rest of the story.**


	10. Ch 10: Friendship

Ch. 10: Friendship

* * *

Nightfall came and I sat there waiting for my _fan club_ to go to sleep. Eventually they did with the exception of Hiccup, since he was on guard duty. I took out the night vision binoculars and gazed down on Cato's club. I zoomed in and checked all their eyes to see if any of them were faking. There was no sign of them faking their sleep. Obviously they were unaware of Hiccup's track record.

I then set my sights on Hiccup. It took all I had in me to keep myself from jumping down onto him and breaking his head open with my axe. He seemed to be fairly good at guard duty, didn't relax or doze off. He just sat there looking around, waiting for something. He turned his gaze right at me. He had a smirk on his face. I couldn't believe it, he was actually rubbing this in my face.

_ Why when I get my hands on him I'll...did he just wink at me?_

I sat there confused for a few more minutes. He went back to looking around their camp. Then he took something out of his pocket. It looked like a small book. He took out a pen or something and started writing. He took out a pocket knife and opened up a scissors attachment. He then slowly cut the page he had been writing on. He then picked up a rock and wrapped the paper around it. He took some string and tied it around the paper. Then he threw it at me. Great first he lies, then he smirks and confusingly winks, now he's throwing paper covered rocks at me.

He had surprising good aim, but I caught it midair. I considered throwing it back at him. As I thought about this I noticed him gesturing for me to open the paper. I remembered he had written something on it. I unwrapped the paper from the rock, hoping this wasn't another insult to my current position. I got one of the matches from my pack and lit it so I could read. I read the paper and was confused, it said.

_ Astrid, I know you probably hate me by now, and I don't blame you. I kind of hate myself for what I did. Now's you're chance, you can come down and we can get away. Hurry, I spent most of my watch making sure the rest were asleep. Please give me a chance to explain._

I considered this note he'd sent me. I looked back down at him. Now his face held a look of pleading. Like he wanted me to do what he said.

"_Yeah right, climb down and wander off so you can backstab me again, literally this time." I thought. _But something was bothering me. That nagging feeling I had felt earlier when I first saw him with Cato in the woods was back. And this time it was stronger, I could feel it telling me to trust him. I looked back at his pleading face, and gave him another chance.

I climbed down slowly, axe at the ready in case this was a trap. He was waiting for me, sitting where he had been. As I touched the ground and turned towards him, he put the spear they had, foolishly, given him down without a noise and put his hands up in a typical "I surrender" way. We both looked around at the sleeping tributes. None of them were stirring. Satisfied Hiccup then put his hands down and gestured into the woods, away from Cato and his club.

We walked further into the forest until the light from the fire no longer illuminated our way. Hiccup then shuffled through his vest until he pulled out a flashlight.

_ So that's why he had all those pockets._

He then led me further in. Oddly enough, the further we went in, the more I trusted him. Once the tributes were out of sight, he stopped and slowly turned to me.

"Now Astrid. I know you're mad, oof." I pinned him against a tree before he could go further. Needless to say, I was livid. I tried my hardest not to shout and wake the others.

"Mad? Mad!? You told me that you said "no" to Cato's offer, said that you love me, and then you go and try to help Cato _kill me! _Believe me Hiccup, we are **FAR** past mad!" I told him in a VERY harsh whisper.

"I-I don't recall saying I love you." He stuttered.

"Well you did. You lied to me when you said that you made my headband, and the note that came with the headband said that whoever sent it loved me."

"Look, we'll talk about that later, but the only reason I joined Cato's club was to protect you."

"Protect me? How does helping them hunt me down protect me? Unless..." I just remembered, he had led them in the wrong direction. "You knew I was there? You sent them on the wrong trail on purpose."

"Yes."

Everything inside me was jumping for joy. I had never felt so happy in my life. Everything told me to just kiss him.

"Look, Astrid. We can talk more later, but now we have to go. Narsca may wake up for her watch soon, she tends to be good at that, and then they'll realize I've helped you get away."

I couldn't lose him. Not now. He was right, they'd know it was him. We had to get some distance between us. It would be harder for them to track us in the dark.

"Alright, we'll split up. Make it twice as hard for them. Meet me back at the pond I was camped out at in two days. You'll probably find me."

"Alright...Ow!" He put his hand over the spot I had hit him on his shoulder and started rubbing it.

"That's for joining Cato's club."

I then quickly pulled him in and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.

"That's for everything else."

I then ran off before he could reply. I soon thought I heard more footsteps behind me, only going in a different direction. I ran through the cool night and after a few hours running I parked myself in a tree and slept till dawn.

* * *

When the sun rose I rose with it. I got down from the tree and started walking. I needed to find water. My supply was almost depleted, save the third bottle I had picked up off the dead tribute. I realized that there weren't any deaths yesterday, of course, most of the surviving tributes were waiting to kill me. I saw the clearing up ahead and immediately crouched down. I found an area of bushes that could completely hide me if I stayed down. I looked through the bushes and saw the cave, and right next to it a pile of supplies, Cato, and his club. They had apparently gathered everything and formed it into one big pile near the cave. Clever I had to admit. The clearing made it easy to spot anyone who dared come close enough. I sat there and waited for a while, I remembered my bearings so tomorrow I would make my way for the pond. Right now however, I wanted to observe Cato's camp and find any weaknesses that could be exploited.

They had apparently seen something, they all looked in one direction and got up. I saw it, smoke. Someone had started a fire and now Cato's club where heading for it. The only person they left behind was the one who wasn't with them before. The boy from three. He must have been put in charge of guarding the supplies.

The group had been gone for a while and the guard was now walking around the pile. I got an idea. When the boy was on the other side of the pile I crept out and slowly made my way towards the pile. I slowly encircled the pile as I made my way towards it to block his view of me. When I was close enough I grabbed a sack of apples and a filled water jug. The jug was easily holding a gallon of water. I had to put my axe in between my back and my backpack so I could carry both of them. Then after circling the pile a little more I made a dash for the cave. I went around the cave and headed for the woods, hoping the cave would block his view of my escape.

* * *

The sun was setting as I reached the tree line. I hid in some more bushes. My plan was to hide right under Cato's nose. I was hoping the other tributes would be to scared of Cato to get this close. Cato's club came through the trees on the opposite side of the clearing. They looked pleased, which means they got their prey. I suddenly felt scared and hoped it wasn't Hiccup. No, Hiccup may be accident prone, but he's smart enough to know not to light a fire when the sun was still high in the sky.

When it got dark the anthem started playing and I looked up to see the faces. It was the boy from nine and the boy from eleven. The sky went dark, Hiccup was still alive. Reassured I leaned back and fell asleep. I was too relieved to worry about Cato and crew being right next door.

Why was I so worried about Hiccup's safety? Then I realized this was somehow also connected to how hurt I felt when I had seen him with Cato. I cared about him. I cared about my father and he went out to fight dragons all the time, but I was never as worried about him as I was about Hiccup. Was it because Hiccup was the weakest of us? Was it because he was more likely to get killed? I fell asleep asking myself these questions and others similar to them.

* * *

Suddenly, I was awoken. Not by someone stabbing me or choking me to death, but by a shriek. A shriek I was all too familiar with. The sound that came from the only dragon in the world that gave me nightmares.

"Nightfury."

I took out my binoculars and looked at Cato's club. They were all looking around in bewilderment and confusion. Berk was the only island that had Nightfuries. I recognized it immediately, but they would have no clue as to what it was they were hearing.

The shriek got louder. Time seemed to slow down as it stopped. Then it went back to normal as a bright blue ball of light appeared and shot towards the pile of supplies. The fireball hit the pile and it turned into a large explosion of blue and orange fire. The tributes where knocked back due to their close proximity to the supplies. I on the other hand just ran away. I was not going to wait for it to come back.

After I was sure I was safe in a patch of dense trees I stopped and bent over to catch my breath. I was never so scared in all my life. I was only yards away from a Nightfury attack. I could only imagine how scared the other tributes were. Although I was scared, just imagining Cato's face made me start laughing. After a minute I brought myself back to more important things. Like, what was a Nightfury doing here? How did it get here? Usually variables in the Games were controlled by the Gamemakers, but how did the Gamemakers get their hands on a Nightfury. None of the Vikings on Berk have even seen a Nightfury, let alone capture one.

Now I knew I had to stay in the forest. It'd be easy for it to pick me off in an open area. I sat down and went back to sleep.

* * *

When I woke up I got up and tried to regain my bearings. I thought and remembered where I was when the Nightfury attacked and relatively which direction I ran away in. I had positioned myself to run in the same direction I had ran in my first day here. I was glad I had remembered to grab the water and apples, this was going to be a long day.

After I came back across the fake trail I had left I went in the direction I knew led to the stream, which in turn would lead me to the lake. After several more hours of walking I recognized the lake in the distance. I took several steps when suddenly.

"Look out!" I was suddenly tackled to the ground. After a few seconds of wrestling I found myself on top, axe in hand, and staring down at Hiccup. He turned his face of shock into a one of his goofy smiles.

"Hiccup!? What are you doing?" I yelled at him. Why did he tackle me? I could have killed him.

"Saving your life. See." He pointed to the spot I had just been standing in and there in the ground, was an arrow. I got off him and gave him a helping hand up.

"Now start explaining."

"I was expecting you would be here earlier, and I thought I might have been followed. So I started setting up booby traps. The one you almost stepped on I made myself."

I looked up and saw a small bow made from a tree branch in the branches above pointing strait down. There were several other strings attached but I had no idea what they did. I looked around and spotted a few more in the trees around the pond.

"You made all these? And they work?" I was honestly impressed.

Inventing, so that's what he did during his private training session. Having supplies gave you an advantage, but knowing ways to turn those supplies into deadly weapons was even better. Of course the fact they were _his _inventions, and they _actually worked_ was even more impressive. His previous inventing attempts usually ended up destroying something.

"Well, yeah. You sound surprised?"

"Well its just, usually you make something and it destroys half the village."

"Fair enough."

He then led me through his traps to the spot I had originally made camp. We sat down and filled my water bottles with the water I had grabbed and drank from them. I then shared some of the apples with him as I set my stuff up in the tree.

"Where did you get these?" He asked.

"Cato's supply cache. Before the Nightfury blew it up that is."

"*cough* You were there?" He coughed as he choked on his water. "I-I heard it last night, but you were actually there?"

"Yeah, and honestly. It was the most terrifying moment of my life."

"He he, I thought you weren't scared of anything."

"Hmph." I gave him a slight smile in the corner of my mouth. "So, how about that talk you wanted to have?"

"Oh, y-yeah, um...You probably want to know why I was with Cato?"

"All I know is that you wanted to protect me, but I got a feeling it's more than that."

"Well, when Cato approached me with his offer, I was going to say No. Then I thought about it and realized he wanted _me_ to get to _you_. I thought maybe I could turn his plan against him. I also realized that I got no chance out there on my own." He leaned close and whispered in my ear, "I also told you I have a plan so we can both get out of here. And I needed to survive long enough for my friend to get here and to find you."

I knew the Gamemakers didn't want anyone leaving on their own terms. If he had a plan, he knew he had to keep it a secret. So I leaned back and whispered as well.

"Who's your friend?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

He certainly wasn't giving any hints. No one back on Berk was his friend, except me now, but he was talking about someone else. Whoever it was must have the ability to get us out of here. My first thought was the king. No, that definitely can't be it, he'd never even met the king.

There was just one more thing I had to know. "Did you really make me this headband."

I looked into his eyes, they were emerald green and shone in the sunlight. "Yes." I could see in his eyes that he was telling the truth. I smiled and blushed a little bit. I leaned my head against his shoulder.

* * *

We sat in silence as the sun went down. We boiled the water and then stored it. It was colder than usual as I set up the sleeping bag at the base of a tree. Hiccup reassured me he had set up enough traps to keep us safe, and after seeing his handiwork, I believed him. I got in the sleeping bag and looked at him. He sat next to me shivering, it hurt me to see him like that.

"Come on get in." I said. He just looked at me dumbfounded.

"S-s-seriously?" his stuttering had increased due to the cold.

"Yeah, I can't let a friend sit in the cold and freeze to death." I gestured him in. He got in, I wasn't sure if he was shaking because he was cold or because he was nervous. I turned so my back was to him. I wasn't afraid of him trying anything, he knew me well enough to know that if he tried anything he'd be dead in seconds. But I could still feel his breath on my neck.

"Astrid," he whispered in my ear.

"What?"

"If my plans going to work, we're going to have to ditch our trackers."

I only now remembered that we had those. He was right, if we wanted a clean getaway we were going to have to lose the trackers so they couldn't follow us.

"What do you have planned?" I rolled over so I was facing him.

He pulled out his pocket knife and his flashlight and rolled up his sleeve. He turned on the light and shined it on his arm. I could see the raised piece of skin were the tracker was. He then handed me the knife. I reached out into my backpack and grabbed the first aid kit. I took out some rubbing alcohol and used it to disinfect the blade. I then readied the rubbing alcohol to clean the wound. I could see him brace himself for the pain. I put the point a little above the ridge and lightly pressed in. A few drops of blood came out. More blood oozed out as I slowly cut over the ridge. I sensed him tense as I cut. I put the knife down and then put my fingers into the cut and pulled out the tracker. He sighed as I pulled the tracker out. It was shaped like a pill and was just as big. Thankfully it was lodged between the muscle and the skin. I took out some bandages and gently wrapped it around the cut in his arm.

I then gave him the knife so he could do the same to me. He hesitated before taking it. He used the alcohol to wash away the blood that was on the blade and to disinfect it again. I gave him the arm that had the tracker in it. He gently took it and lightly pressed the blade in. I took in a deep breath, this was not the first time I had been cut. I had been through worse pain. He carefully made the cut and pulled out the tracker. He took out some more bandages and wrapped them around my arm, being gentle as he did so.

The way he cared for my arm even though the cut wasn't that bad, made me feel weird inside. That feeling only doubled as I gazed into his emerald green eyes. He looked at me and we held our gaze for a few moments. I remembered our situation and snapped out of the trance I was in. I then took my tracker and put it in between my skirt and pants on my hip. Hiccup then took his and put it in one of his pockets. We didn't want them to know we'd ditched the trackers yet.

We heard the anthem play and looked up to see the deaths of the day. The faces of the girl from one, the boy and girl from three, and the girl from four shone over our heads in the night sky. They disappeared leaving us staring at the stars.

I then turned off the flashlight and rolled over. I could feel him still staring at me. I then heard him roll over and go to sleep. I then remembered something. I punched him on the shoulder again, the one that hadn't been cut into.

"Ow!" He rolled over. "What was that for?"

"That's for tackling me."

I then gave him a quick kiss him on the lips. "That's for everything else." I then rolled over and went to sleep.

* * *

**So that's it for now. Remember to feel free to review and/or comment. They really do help even if it's just a "good job". **


	11. Ch 11: Tragedy

Ch. 11: Tragedy

* * *

We woke up the next morning and ate the last of the apples along with some beef jerky. Not the best combination, but good enough. We sat around the camp for a little while. I then suggested we go looking for some berries we could eat. We agreed and set out into the forest.

* * *

We had gone a fair ways away. We found a few blackberries and snacked on them as we continued searching.

"Let's split up." he said. I looked at him in surprise.

"Are you crazy? They'll be looking for us. We need to stick together."

"Oh, come on. I'll be fine, I've survived so far." He just waved me off like I was overreacting. I couldn't help but stare in surprise at this sudden amount of confidence. He was walking away with me following him when he stopped and turned around.

"Look, Astrid. I can take care of myself. Besides we'll cover more ground this way." He then got close to my ear and whispered, "Plus I need to go find my friend so he can get us out of here."

"Okay." I whispered back. This sudden amount of information confused my brain so much that by the time I had recollected myself, Hiccup was gone. Great, now I have to go find him all over again.

Who could Hiccup's friend be? He said he had to go find him, so that meant he was in the arena like the rest of us. It couldn't be another tribute. That meant his friend had snuck into the arena before the Games had begun. These questions plagued my mind as I walked through the forest.

After several hours of walking I took a lunch break. If there was one thing, other that inventing, that Hiccup was good at, it was running and hiding. I ate the last of the beef jerky and drained an entire water bottle.

After a few more hours of searching I heard a scream of pain. Hiccup. I quickly dashed in the direction the scream came from. I heard a few more screams. They were getting louder as I got closer. I saw up ahead the only bushes that separated me from him. Axe ready to chop off some heads, I slowly approached the bushes. I stopped as I heard a familiar voice, Cato.

"Alright Hiccup. Once again, where's your girlfriend?"

"I don't, k-know, what you're talking about." I almost gasped as I heard the pain in his voice. "Aaahhhh." He screamed again as they did whatever it was they were doing to torture him.

With a determined mind I crashed through the bushes. I was not about to let them torture him because they wanted me. I jumped through the bushes right into a small sunlit clearing. I counted them; Cato, Narsca, and Gregson. They were all standing around Hiccup with their swords pointed strait at him. They turned their heads towards me when I appeared.

Time had literally slowed down as my mind raced through every step in the attack plan I was formulating. The first and hardest part was going to be getting Hiccup away from them and to safety. From a quick glance I saw his own knife sticking out of him. They had been slowly stabbing him in areas that would cause great pain, but keep him alive. Next I saw his captors positions. Cato was closest to me standing by Hiccup's left foot. Narsca was right behind his left shoulder, and Gregson to his right. I had to figure out a way to attack without getting Hiccup killed. I couldn't figure anything out in the few seconds time had slowed down for, so I was going to have to stall. Cato however made the first move towards a conversation.

"Well well, look who showed up to her lover's rescue." He turned away from Hiccup and towards me, resting his sword on his shoulder with an arrogant smile. This new found interest for taunting me and Hiccup as _lover's_ was really angering me, but for different reasons than most would think.

"You want me Cato, here I am. Let Hiccup go."

"Sorry, but then we'd just have to hunt him down again."

"Really? I thought you liked hunting things down."

"I do, but not after I've just caught them."

"Fine, lets do this fair. One-on-one fight between you and me. You win you'll have killed me and then you can kill Hiccup. I win, Hiccup and I get to go free until we meet again. Oh, and you'll be dead as well."

"Hmm, tempting I'll admit." He took a step back. "But, I prefer this way better." In a matter of seconds he grabbed Hiccup, lifting him up, dropped his sword, pulled out a knife, and stabbed Hiccup in the gut.

Hiccup eyes widened as he let out a gasp. I froze as I watched him fall to the ground. My shock soon turned to anger. My hands tightened, the left into a fist, and the right around my axe. I was clenching the axe so tight I was certain I would leave an impression on the wood.

Their looks of triumph turned to fear, especially Cato as my eyes were now focused on him. He reached down and quickly grabbed his sword. He then pushed Gregson towards me shouting, "Gregson, take care of her." He and Narsca then turned tail and ran. I would get them later. Right now I needed to help Hiccup.

I sprinted towards Hiccup as Gregson swung at me. I parried the swing so hard the sword dropped from his hands. I dropped my axe and took a swing at his gut, then an uppercut to his bent over head, and threw him to the side before he fell backwards unconscious.

Forgetting Cato and the others I dropped at Hiccup's side and pulled out the knife. It was about five inches in length. I rolled him over and dragged him over to a lone tree that sat in the clearing. I leaned him up against it. He was still breathing, barely.

His eyes opened slowly and he smiled at me. I couldn't, and didn't, even try to stop the tears now coming to my eyes.

"I guess only one of us will be getting out now." He faintly said, still trying to be funny.

"No, no. Please. Hiccup." I was pleading with him.

"Astrid. When he gets here, just trust him. He won't hurt you." His voice was becoming weaker. "Take care of him Astrid. Promise."

I didn't know what he meant but I was too heartbroken to care. "I promise. And I promise, I won't let Cato get away and win this thing." From a young age I had been taught to not make promises unless I knew without a doubt that I could keep them. However, I knew that I _would_ keep this promise.

"I love you Astrid. I always have." He raised his hand to brush my headband with his thumb. Then he lightly placed it on my cheek, which now had streams of tears running down it. I took his hand and held it there. I closed my eyes as I felt his rough yet somehow soft hands. I opened my blue eyes again to stare deeply into his emerald green ones. I suddenly realized what I had been feeling towards him all this time.

"I love you too Hiccup, with all my heart." I whispered.

He smiled and somehow I could tell he was fading, slowly but he was. I leaned down and closed my eyes. I kissed him, and he kissed back. We held that kiss for forever. I could feel the life pulling away from his lips. I opened my eyes and saw him open his, still holding the kiss. I felt and saw the life leave him as he closed his eyes for the last time. The last thing he felt was me kissing him, and the last thing he saw were my blue eyes staring into his.

Once his life was gone I drew back. I stared at his body for a few seconds before falling on it. I grabbed around his back and pushed my face into his chest, crying the hardest I ever had and ever would cry. The tears were now pouring out of my eyes. I cried for I don't know how long. I cried so hard I didn't even noticed a large shadow come over me. What did catch my attention was a loud whine from behind me.

I slowly turned and then leapt from Hiccup's body. I landed face down on the grass and rolled onto my back staring at the huge black body of a dragon. It was unlike any dragon I had ever seen, which left one option, Nightfury. I was shocked, this must have been the one that blew up the supply cache. I waited for the dragon to see me and pounce, but it didn't. It just sat on its hind legs, leaning on its front paws, and staring down with big green eyes at Hiccup.

It was not the largest dragon I had seen, but still intimidating at first. It was black aside from a midnight navy that appeared in the direct sunlight. What surprised me the most were it's eyes. Instead of slits, it's pupils were big and round. And the look inside of them, they looked...sad.

It leaned forward towards Hiccup and I started. _ It was going to eat him! _ But instead it just nudged him a bit. Then it got right in his face and gave it a small nudge with it's nose. Then it opened it's mouth and breathed in his face. Then it licked him. It started to make whimpering noises as it continued to nudge him with it's nose. Then I realized something. It cared about him. I then noticed that on the Nightfury's back was some kind of saddle. This was Hiccup's way out of the Games, this was his friend.

I sat there shock once again filling me. The dragon had backed away and lowered it's head, eyes closed. It was mourning him. Tears once again resurfaced as I looked at the dragon. I got up and slowly approached, I was scared it would think I had killed him. It had found us as I was right there with him. I was only a foot away when it, no _he_, Hiccup had referred to his friend as a he. When he slowly opened his eyes and gazed sadly at me. I reached out my hand to comfort him. He sniffed it before putting his nose to my outstretched hand. Some how if this was some other time this would have been amazing, but now it just relieved a little of the sadness. I started scratching him.

"You miss him too, don't you." He gave me a sad moan as a yes. I then pulled him into a hug.

"I know." I took in a deep breath for what was going to come next. "But we're going to have to move on without him." He gave me a confused sounding noise.

"It's what he would want us to do. He asked me to take care of you, and that's what I'm going to do. Besides, we're going to need each other. Now more than ever."

It was true. I could already tell that, aside from my headband, the Nightfury was now my greatest and possibly only connection to him. Plus he was going to need me as well. Dragon or not, I could tell Hiccup's death hurt him. He had no one else other than me to lean on. Plus, we were quite possibly the only friends Hiccup had, there would be no one else who would feel what we felt. Except maybe his father, but I still highly doubt that Stoick would comfort the dragon.

That was when I heard the groan and movement to the side. I looked and saw Gregson getting up. I forgot I hadn't killed him in my rush towards Hiccup. I saw the Nightfury was looking at Gregson, only now his eyes were slits and full of hate.

I decided to get out of his way in case he charged Gregson. He just waited there, crouching and ready to pounce. Gregson got up and stood there a minute before hearing the Nightfury's growl and slowly turning. His eyes widened in fear. I wasn't sure if it was because of me or the Nightfury. He ran in the other way. I ran to my axe and picked it up. I then threw it at Gregson and hit him at the base of his back, instantly paralyzingly him from his waist down. He screamed out in pain as I turned toward the Nightfury and gestured with my head for him to attack. Instantly upon getting the "okay" he ran towards Gregson and soon had him pinned under his paw. I then heard a weird noise as the Nightfury reared it head. It then shot a small blue fireball, blasting Gregson's head clean off.

The Nightfury then walked back over to me, wide eyed. I smiled back at him. This was the beginning of a new friendship. Brought together by a single man. I turned towards Hiccup. I couldn't just leave him there. I walked over to him, the Nightfury walking behind me. I then picked up Hiccup's body and laid it across the Nightfury's back. He then gestured me to hop on. I got on the saddle and directed him towards the camp.

* * *

Once we reached camp, I took the sleeping bag and laid Hiccup inside it. I zipped it up all the way and laid it against a tree. I then cleaned the blood off of my axe which I had retrieved. It was getting dark. I put together some wood and the dragon lit it with his fire breath. I sat down and the Nightfury laid down curling his body around me. I patted him on the neck.

"Thank you."

I then leaned back against his side and watched the fire flicker. The anthem played and we both looked up to see Gregson's face, then Rue's (that must have been where Toby was), and finally Hiccup's. Tears started coming as I cried again, remembering what had happened earlier. The Nightfury whimpered a little bit and then curled around me tighter. I leaned back remembering my promise, which led to remembering the kiss. I fell asleep. My sleep was neither good nor bad. I dreamt about what my life would be like if Hiccup had lived. They were all good, but they reminded me that they could never be reality.

* * *

I woke up the next morning to find the Nightfury was still asleep. I was sure Hiccup would have named him. I would have to figure it out later when he was awake. He was smart, maybe he could somehow give me a hint.

I got up and ate the last of the trail mix and beef jerky for breakfast. Only afterwards did I realize that I didn't have anything for the Nightfury. I don't think he would have liked the trail mix, he defiantly wouldn't like the berries I had, he might have liked the beef jerky, but there had defiantly not been enough left to feed a dragon. We would have to go hunting to get some food for him later.

The Nightfury woke up. If he was hungry, he didn't act like it. I then picked up Hiccup's body and strapped it onto the dragon's back. I wasn't going to leave him here. When this was over I was going to take his body away from this evil place and give him a proper burial. I then walked over to my axe and picked it up with my left hand.

"Alright boy," The Nightfury turned to me as I spun the axe in the air, grabbed it with my right hand, and set it in my left so that both hands were now on the handle. "Let's go end some Careers."

* * *

***hides behind Captain America's shield as readers throw tomatoes, soda cans, and various other projectiles at me* I know, I know! I killed Hiccup! I'm so, SO, _SO SORRY!_ It was one of the hardest things I've ever had to write. **

**Look, just keep reading and you'll see the announcement at the end of the next chapter. I'm uploading this chapter alone because I honestly want to know what you all thought of the plot twist. So please review/comment. **


	12. Ch 12: Revenge

**Hmm...I was expecting more of a reaction from last chapter's turn of events. Oh well.**

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Ch. 12: Revenge

* * *

We set off that morning, first we had to get food, then we'd deal with Cato. He walked carrying Hiccup's body on his back, while I walked alongside. He had offered me a ride but I felt like walking. We had walked through the forest for about an hour before I remembered that I still didn't know the Nightfury's name.

"Hiccup, wouldn't have happened to give you a name. Did he?" The Nightfury nodded his head.

"Okay. Any chance that you could give me a clue as to what it is?" The Nightfury slightly turned his head toward me and widened his mouth into a smile. I noticed that the teeth I was sure had been there earlier were gone. As I looked at the smile I had to admit, it was rather cute. Okay, so a gummy smile was my clue.

"Umm. Smiley?" He shook his head, no. "Gummy?" No. His teeth then made a quick reappearance. They seemed to have come out of his gums. And as quick as the teeth had appeared, they retracted back.

"Retract? Retractable?" No, and no. The Nightfury shook his head, the look in his eyes said he was getting annoyed.

"Your not exactly helping '_Toothy_.' " I appearantly got his attention with that last one as his ears perked up and he tilted his head towards me. Toothy, was that it? I don't even know where I came up with that, probably all the talking about teeth.

"Toothy?" No, he shook his head again, but this time he seemed to make a nudging gesture in the air. Wrong, but on the right track apparently. Tooth, no he defiantly had more than one tooth. Toothfull? Well, why would he retract his teeth for the clue if his name was Toothfull? If I hadn't known he had teeth I would have thought he was toothless.

Wait, "Toothless?"

With that he nodded his head and started jumping up and down lightly. While I'm sure he was restraining himself, I was glad I had tied down Hiccup's body with some of the remaining rope. I made sure it was tied down tight, in case we needed to take to the air. Toothless then snuggled up to me with his nose. Toothless was certainly an odd name, but I had heard weirder.

"So, I guess that means Toothless it is then." I said with a laugh. We heard something move in the bushes to our right. I turned fast enough to glimpse a deer running away. I undid the straps holding Hiccup on, took him off Toothless, and laid him on the ground. I then sent Toothless after the deer. He took off with great speed through the bushes and I quickly lost sight of him.

I waited for only about ten minutes before Toothless returned, carrying a deer carcass in his mouth. He set the carcass down before me and I started to skin it in order to get to the meat. Toothless then wandered off and soon returned with plenty of sticks. I guessed lighting a fire would be alright. There were only three of them left, plus I had Toothless. And with the speed at which Toothless had caught the deer, I doubted that they would get very far if they ran. After roasting some meat on the fire I ate some and let Toothless eat the rest of the carcass.

I finished my meat and watched Toothless devour the rest of his. It was rather bloody, but I had gutted and stripped enough deer in my lifetime that it didn't really bother me much. After all on Berk, if you killed something you could eat, you ate everything that was edible on it.

I was wondering how this would turn out. My very acquaintance, let alone friendship, with a dragon would have gotten me kicked off the island. Not to mention I bet the Gamemakers weren't looking approvingly on this new card that had been thrown into the deck and landed in my hand. I realized, then and there, that I couldn't go home.

I was brought back from my thoughts as a twig snapped behind me. Knowing that there was no one else alive other than my enemies, I quickly grabbed my axe. In what seemed like one swift motion I got up, turned and threw my axe at the stalker. I heard a sharp thump, followed by a thud. I had hit my target. I walked over and found Toby lying there, my axe stuck right between the eyes. I grabbed my axe and pulled it out of him. I then turned and walked back to the fire. Toothless was sniffing the air for the others. He had apparently been to busy with the carcass to have noticed Toby. I didn't blame him, hunger could be very distracting.

"Two more to go."

* * *

After we put out the fire and strapped Hiccup back on we continued walking. My plan was to head for the clearing in the middle of the arena and hide out in the cave at its center. After we got there Toothless would hide in the cave and I would keep watch. Cato and Narsca wanted me, they didn't even know about Toothless, which gave me a great advantage. My only hope was that they weren't waiting in the clearing as well.

We got to the clearing's edge. I looked and didn't see Cato or Narsca in the clearing. That didn't mean they weren't hiding in the surrounding bushes, or in the cave.

We waited until nightfall when Toothless would blend in almost perfectly. We then snuck towards the cave. When we reached it Toothless went in first, apparently he didn't sense any danger inside. I then followed him inside and sat there watching the entrance.

I sat there until sunrise. I ate some of the meat I had saved as well as some nuts and berries I had picked up on our way here. I stepped outside the cave and stretched. I then sat down leaning against the cave wall. I watched, looking for a sign of Cato's presence. Eventually I felt my eyelids getting heavy and before I knew it, I was asleep.

* * *

I found myself in a field of flowers. They were every color of flowers, pink, white, yellow, light blue, orange, a rainbow of flowers. I was lying on my back, still in my arena gear. I sat up and looked around. It was beautiful, blue almost cloudless sky, a waterfall to my left, a beach in front of me, and Hiccup to my right. Wait, Hiccup!? I looked closer and there he was, sitting there admiring a light pink flower he held in his hand.

"Hiccup!" I shouted and he turned to look at me. His eyes were still the same emerald green.

I got up and ran over to him. He got up to greet me with a hug. I tackled him to the ground and we rolled around for a little bit, finally ending with him hovering over me. I placed a hand on his cheek and he copied me as I gently pulled him in and gave him a kiss on the lips. After the kiss was ended we just laid there, staring into each other's eyes.

"I thought I would never see you alive again." I said, the joy was making me cry, "I thought you were gone."

He simply brushed my headband with his thumb. "Don't worry. I'll always be with you, in here." he pointed to my heart. I leaned in to kiss him again, when something hit me.

* * *

I woke up as I was tackled to the ground. Me and my attacker rolled around until I found myself on my back, arms pinned on either side by their legs, and staring up into the practically psychopathic face of Narsca.

I struggled but she weighed more than I did and held me down. She then placed her left hand on my forehead and pushed my head against the ground.

"Well, well, well. Looks like miss smart has just made a dumb mistake. Looks like Hiccup rubbed off on you before he died." This made my blood simmer. I struggled again but to no avail.

"Cato wanted to rip you up just as much as I did. So, we flipped. Thanks to my token being my lucky coin, I won. The only condition Cato gave me was to make sure it was a very slow and painful death. And I am going to be more than happy to oblige." She pulled out a knife. She then lightly ran the side of the cold blade down my cheek. "Where to start, where to start? I always have difficulty with decisions like this."

She not only looked like a psychopath. She **was** a psychopath. With a quick lunge I raised my head and bit her hand. "Ow." She held onto the blade and used her other hand to punch my face, releasing my grip on her hand. She then held my head to the ground even harder.

"Now you're making me mad. Let's see how you feel about biting people when I cut off your jaw." She raised the knife level to her head. "Alright '_Dragon Girl_', any last words?"

I put on a smile as she was oblivious to the shadow that had just befallen us. "Yeah. Nightfury. Get down."

Before her face could register, she was knocked off of me with great force. I turned to see Toothless now holding her down staring her in the eye. I got up and walked over to him and leaned on his neck, glaring down at her with an arrogant smile on my face.

"Glad you won that coin toss now?" She could only stare into Toothless' eyes with fear written on her face. Her breath was quick and heavy. I took a few steps back as she gave her final scream of terror. Toothless lunged at her head and bit it clean off. He then spat her head out to the side and got off of her limp body.

"Narsca!"

I turned to see Cato running out of the trees toward us. He stopped several steps out, realizing his mistake. Toothless turned his attention to Cato and started moving towards him. I stepped forward and held a hand out to stop Toothless.

"No Toothless. _He's __**mine**_." Toothless took a step back showing he granted my wish, but he still held that look of pure hatred on his face. I don't know if it was something to do with scent or because he could tell it was personal to me, but he knew this was the one who inflicted the fatal wound that killed Hiccup.

"Ya sure you don't want to take me up on my deal Cato?" He looked stunned. His gaze kept bouncing between my eyes and Toothless'. Both of which held the most pure form of hate and anger.

"That offer still in play?" his voice was shaky. Good. That meant he was scared, and rightfully so.

"Offer is relatively the same. You and me, one-on-one. I win you die, game over. You win, I die, and your the next Hunger Games Champion. That is until Toothless here tears you to shreds for killing his best friends." I looked over at Toothless to verify that he considered me a best friend. He nodded knowing what I was looking for and I smiled.

"Sounds like I die either way."

"Come on Cato. We both know you want to face me one-on-one. Plus it's not like you to run from a fight."

"You know what? You're right." He drew his sword and charged at me. I ran back to the cave wall to get my axe.

I turned and saw Toothless had been honorable and moved out of the way. Cato was running straight at me. I blocked his first slash and our fight began.

I had to admit, Cato was almost as good with a sword as I was with my axe. Almost. After what seemed like an hour of constant parries, blocked attacks, and dodges he was starting to slow down. I at one point knocked his sword right out of his hand, and I dropped my axe to the ground right after it. I wanted to beat him fair and square. If he had no weapon, then I had no weapon. He managed to land a few strong punches to my gut, but I returned with a few rib breakers of my own. After a few minutes of punching, blocking, and occasional kicking I found an opening and landed on the left side of his face the strongest punch I could muster. He fell back to the ground unconscious. I regained my breath and waited for him to wake back up, I wasn't finished with him yet. He started to stir and I crouched on top of him ready to deliver the final punch. He woke up and found me staring angrily into his eyes. He didn't seem surprised, he was probably expecting this.

"Well? Go on, what are you waiting for?"

"You killed Hiccup. You killed the only guy I will ever love. We were planning to escape, and weren't even going to bother with you. Yet you hunted us down and killed him for what? He was no threat to you. You used him to get to me. You only wanted me, just because of my score."

"So what are you waiting for? Go ahead. Kill me!"

"You took away the one person I cared the most about. No. I'm not going to kill you. You're going to have to go and live out your life, in my debt for sparing you." With that I got off of him, giving him a light shove. I then walked over to my axe and picked it up. Toothless walked over to me, carefully carrying Hiccup's body with him. I took the body and strapped it tight onto Toothless. When he was strapped on Toothless took a few steps away and stretched out his wings.

"Congratulations Cato. You just won the Hunger Games."

I heard quick footsteps and then him picking up his sword. I heard him charge at me. With precision timing I spun around and swung my axe. The next sight that greeted me was Cato's head falling to the ground, closely followed by his body.

I took some water and cleaned the blood off my axe. I got onto Toothless and we were about to take off when a loud voice filled the arena.

"_Ladies and Gentlemen. I give you your winner, Astrid Hofferson!_" This proclamation was followed by a large amount of cheers in the background.

I huffed and smirked at the invisible people making those noises for me. I reached to my side and into the space in between my skirt and my pants and pulled out the tracker. I had removed Hiccup's earlier and had left it in the cave. I held the tracker up to my face and spoke to the invisible people.

"Winner? I don't think so." I tossed the tracker into the grass and grabbed hold of the handles on Toothless' saddle. "Come on buddy. Let's get out of here."

With that he spread his wings and we leapt into the air. Flying on the back of a dragon. It was now the second most wonderful feeling in the world, kissing Hiccup being the first. Flying was wonderful, the wind in your face, the scenery of the sky, feeling of freedom. It was now something I wanted to do everyday. I only wished I could have just once shared this experience with Hiccup.

* * *

Me and Toothless flew out of the arena headed south. I had been told it was warmer down south. The only items I had brought with me from the arena were my axe, the pack, and the water bottles. After several days of flying and stopping on islands to rest, eat, and drink, we finally came to a tropical island that we both enjoyed. It was roughly the size of Berk, large enough to hold plenty of game to hunt. It was also full of streams and some fruits. The first thing we did when we decided to settle there was bury Hiccup. We found a large stone that could be used as a tombstone, it took time but I eventually scratched into the rock the words,

Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III

Best Friend and Love of my Life

Born: February 29th 2255

Died: August 2nd 2271

We will never forget you.

And I will always love you - Astrid

We buried him on the beach right below the tree line with him and his tombstone facing the sunset. We then sat there the rest of the night. I ended up crying through at least half of it.

The next day we moved onto getting food, water, and hopefully a shelter. It's what Hiccup would have wanted us to do. I picked some fruit and gathered some supplies to fish with, while Toothless grabbed anything he thought could be used to make a shelter. He was a very intelligent dragon.

By the end of the day I had gotten a load of fruit and used the supplies Toothless got, along with some I got on my own to build a shelter. It wasn't anything fancy, just a triangle shaped shelter that was large enough for both of us to fit in. While I made the shelter, Toothless had gone into the woods to get some food of his own.

After about a month we had managed to build a small house for both of us. We had made a clearing in the forest next to the beach and used the wood to build. It was a simple one story, had a kitchen area, and a living/sleeping area. Toothless mostly slept next to the fireplace and I had made a bed up against the wall a few feet away. I placed it under a window that I had made that faced out in the direction of the sunset.

I had made fishing supplies and we used them to fish out in the ocean. With plenty of food to eat and water to drink we didn't have to worry about starving or dehydration.

We went flying almost everyday to forget life's worries and just feel free. We never felt sad about Hiccup while flying. Somehow flying made us feel like he was right there with us. Me and Toothless lived on that island as best friends for the rest of our lives.

* * *

**So, there it is. I hoped you guys enjoyed it. Now for guest responses.**

**Kl: Glad you liked the plot twist even though it was a sad one. To be honest, it wasn't until your review that I realized I was mimicking Rue's death. As for the cameras, I think I answered that in this chapter, but if not then there is very little the Gamemakers could do against a nightfury. And don't worry about the grammar thing. I doubt it will be the last criticism I get about it. But thank you for the apology. **

**Anyway, I told you I would have an announcement at the end of this chapter so here it is. This isn't the end, sort of. When originally writing this, I felt bad for killing Hiccup, so also wrote an Alternate Ending, yay! But I liked the way this ended so I'm leaving it up to the readers. There will be a poll on my profile about should I post the Alt. Ending or not. If you are a guest reviewer, just leave your answer in a review and I will count it. Poll will close on 11/22 (yes the day before Catching Fire comes out) and if enough people say 'yes' then I will post it the following day. **

**This will be my first completed story, so I would like to thank all of you for reading it.**


	13. Alt End Ch 11: Rue

**Well, you guys asked for it so here it is. The Alternate Ending! Yes, I know, I got the uploading dates messed up, sorry about that.**

* * *

Alt. End. Ch.11: Rue

* * *

I woke up next to Hiccup the next morning. I could barely recalling the events from last night. He was still lying right next to me. I shook him awake so that we could start our day.

"W-what?" He asked groggily.

"Wake up sleepy. We've got to get moving."

"R-right."

After we ate a breakfast of beef jerky and apples, we wandered into the forest to scavenge for some berries. Hopefully we might find some deer or other wildlife along the way. I took the lead for a few hours, then we rested. After we drank some water Hiccup spoke up.

"It's probably safe to meet my friend now. The area seems pretty secure."

"Who is this friend of yours anyway?"

"You wouldn't believe it unless you saw him." I decided to let it go at that. If it was a way out of here without killing Hiccup, I'd take it.

"Lead the way."

We walked for about an hour before coming upon a clearing. It was a small cove surrounded by rock. There was one way in and one way out. Unless you planned on falling 40+ feet to your death that is. The ground was covered in soft grass. About half of the space was taken up by a lake that had water running into it from a small waterfall. We walked in. Hiccup seemed to be nervous about the situation. He kept looking around like he was expecting something to jump out at him.

I kept my axe ready in my hand. I had been cautious because there could be other tributes in the woods. Hiccup's nervousness was not helping me feel any better. Plus, I couldn't help but get the feeling I was being watched.

He stopped in about the middle of the cove. I was beginning to wonder something. How did he know about this place? If he had been with Cato this whole time when did he wander off to meet his friend here?

_Wait. This place was a perfect spot for an ambush! One way in, one way out. Why that little lying punk._ My grip on my axe tightened. _If I'm going down, he's going down with me._

"So, where's this _friend_ of yours?" I couldn't help the contempt sarcasm in my voice.

"H-he'll be here. Don't worry." Still can't face me like a true warrior.

"Ya know. I'm beginning to think this is another trick." He turns around to face me. His eyes widen as he's sees my anger.

"A-A-Astrid..."

"Save it!" I begin to slowly approach while glaring at him. "I can't believe even _you_ would stoop so low as to pretend to be my friend and be in love with me, just to turn me over to Cato. Well you're not getting out of this one."

I raise my axe overhead for the killing blow, when suddenly I hear a growl from behind me. I freeze and realize Hiccup wasn't scared of me. He was afraid of whatever was behind me. I slowly turned my head to look behind me and saw what scared him. A big black dragon. It's teeth were showing as it sat on it's hindquarters. It's eyes we're big and green with narrow black slits.

"A-Astrid? Just listen to me and lower your axe." he said surprisingly calmly.

I turned back to look at him. "What?"

"Just trust me on this." He was actually now stepping around me and towards the dragon. I stayed still, confused as to what he was doing.

I quickly turned around and the dragon growled again. Hiccup raised his hands in a non threatening gesture. He slowly approached the dragon.

"Hey, it's okay bud. You just scared her is all." Wait? Is he actually talking to the dragon. And the dragon actually seems to be, listening? "This is the girl I've been telling you about. She's going to come with us."

Come with them? Wait, this is the friend he's been telling me about? He's friends with a dragon!? Well, the folks at home are _really_ going to love this.

The dragon's pupils grow big and round. It's pressing it's nose to his hand. The Hiccup starts scratching it. The dragon seems to be enjoying it, and is it just me or is it actually, _purring_?

"Don't worry Astrid. He won't hurt you. He's just not used to meeting new people."

"_He_? Who is _he_?" He stopped scratching the dragon and faced me.

"Umm...Astrid, this is Toothless. Toothless, Astrid."

"He doesn't look toothless to me." I commented, remembering his full mouth of teeth.

The dragon then smiled at me and I was taken aback when I saw nothing but gums.

"H-how did..." For once it was my turn to stutter.

"Yeah, he has retractable teeth." He explained.

Toothless then got on all fours and walked over to me. I wanted to run but for some reason I couldn't. Toothless sniffed me a few times then nudged my hand with his nose.

"I think he wants you to pet him."

"You can't, be serious."

"Actually, yes. I am."

I reluctantly raised my hand and put it on Toothless' nose. His scales felt rough as I slowly started to rub. He closed his eyes and seemed to enjoy it. I soon forgot he was supposed to be the enemy and started digging my nails in to scratch him. He started purring.

"Looks like you're taking a liking to him as well."

"Eh, what can I say? He's cute, like you." He coughed and started blushing with embarrassment.

"So how long have you two been friends?" I asked.

"For about several months. Remember the last time I said I shot down a Nightfury?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I really did. No one believed me though, so I went out and found it."

"And you just spur of the moment made friends with him."

"Not exactly. I found him still bound up and was about to kill him when something happened."

"What?"

"I looked into his eyes. I saw him, so scared and defenseless. I looked at him, and I saw myself."

This revelation surprised me. It also made me realize how wrong we had all been. Now the question was.

"So, what do we do now?" We still had to get out of here.

"We'll take him back to camp with us. In the morning we pack up and leave."

"Leave to go where?"

"Anywhere." He gave one of his cute half smiles and I smiled back.

When we got back to camp though I knew our plans might have to change. I noticed that several items seemed to be missing. Our camp had been visited.

"Someone's been here while we were gone."

"What? But that can't be. I set up all the traps." He started panicking.

I was about to go over and comfort him when I noticed something. In the mud by the pond was a footprint. It was too small to be one of ours. In fact it was too small to be any tributes. That is, except for...

"Rue."

"What?"

"Rue. The girl from island eleven. She's the one who took took our stuff."

Me and Hiccup stood there thinking of how Rue got past the booby traps and where she was now. She couldn't have gotten too far. We were so deep in thought that we didn't even notice Toothless silently slinking off.

"What if she..."

"AAAHHH!" Hiccup was cut off by a high pitched scream. It came from the bushes to our right. We dashed towards them. Just before we crashed through them I heard laughing. When we did crash through the bushes, we were met with a sight that we didn't expect. Rue was giggling while playing with Toothless. She was sitting on his belly scratching him while he purred and wiggled on his back.

"Enjoying yourselves?" I asked. They both froze and looked at us. Rue then jumped off of Toothless and ran into the trees. I ran after her.

"Rue!"

I stopped after some time and looked around for her. I heard the faintest movement coming from behind one of the trees. I slowly turned towards it and approached.

"Rue? Don't worry, it's alright. I'm not going to hurt you." I stopped a few feet from the tree. I set my axe down on the ground at my feet. "I see you met Toothless. He's not very scary for being the most feared dragon in history, is he?"

"No." She was speaking just barley above a whisper. "He's actually really cute." She poked her head out from around the tree. I kneeled down to her eye level.

"Ya know. Cato has four people on his team. If you wanted, you could join us and help make it an even fight?" That was a partial lie. I had no doubt Rue could help, but I think Toothless probably counted as ten men on the ground and a thousand when he was airborne.

She reluctantly came out from behind the tree. She slowly approached me and took my hand. I smiled at her and she smiled back.

We walked back to camp to find Hiccup and Toothless starting a fire. There was no longer going to be a need to hide from Cato. Besides, he'd be coming into our territory. Upon seeing us Toothless bounded over and licked both of us. Afterwards we both scratched him on his head and neck.

When Hiccup got the fire going, Rue returned the items she had taken. Apparently she had been surviving by snatching items off of other tributes while they slept and scavenging for edible plants in the forest. We all sat down by the fire and ate some beef jerky. Hiccup was the first of us to talk.

"So Rue. Do you have any idea, as to what Cato is planning?"

"Well I know he's really mad at Astrid for being better than him, and mad at you for using him the way you did." I couldn't help but smile at the thought of Cato furious at our skill and cleverness. "As to what he's planning, he seems to be setting up a sort of ambush around the cave in the center of the arena. Otherwise he seems to be sending someone into the woods each day to look for us."

"So, in other words, he's scared?" I inquired.

"Stiff."

We all laughed at that. We then told stories about our lives on our islands. Rue found the dragons highly interesting, they apparently only got an occasional Terrible Terror on eleven. Rue then told us about her island. They didn't have it as hard as we did, but life was still pretty rough. She apparently was the oldest of six, and her father had died from disease a few years back. Her mom now had to work long hours leaving Rue in charge of her siblings. After a while we all decided to turn in. We set up a watch system. Toothless took the first few hours, then I took the next, then Hiccup took the last. I had the feeling Toothless would have been willing to stay up all night, but even Nightfuries need sleep.

* * *

I felt something nudging me and woke to find Toothless' nose hovering above me. Still not used to being friends with a dragon I instinctively jumped back and made to grab my axe. By the time my fingers touched the handle I remembered all the events of the day before. I starred at Toothless as he gave me a look that said he didn't know what was going on.

"You scared me."

Toothless then gave a small laugh at me. I realized that Hiccup had told him about me. Which meant he probably told him about how I don't scare easily. I gave him a smirk before getting up.

"Go get some sleep, fishbreath." He gave me a look showing he didn't entirely approve of the name calling. Even though in reality, it in fact **was** his fowl rotting fish breath that had woken me up in the first place.

I sat guard for my shift looking out over the pond. Was it just me or did it seem like there was less water in the pond than there had been earlier? I stared at the pond for the rest of my shift before waking up Hiccup. I woke him up and took his place in the sleeping bag next to Rue.

I looked at Rue as she slept till sleep overcame me. Little Rue, so small, so innocent.

_Don't worry Rue. You're going to win these Games, I'll do my best to make sure of that._

* * *

**There's part one of the alternate ending. Now for guest review responses.**

**Kl: Glad that you liked the original ending. As for Rue, you can see she plays more of a role in the Alt. Ending. As for posting chapters, to be honest, I misjudged how long it would take to post all the chapters. When I originally planned that it was the middle of the night so I think my brain wasn't fully functioning. Since I wound up having extra days, I thought it would be nice to get the audience involved, hence the poll.**


	14. Alt End Ch 12: Happy Endings

**Now for part 2 of the Alternate Ending.**

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Alt. End. 12: Happy Endings

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We woke up the next morning and ate the last of the beef jerky. It seems that the Gamemakers had indeed tampered with the environment, the pond was now completely dry. Toothless ate all the pond fish that were now just laying on the muddy ground that had once been covered by water.

While we ate we discussed our plan. Me and Rue were going to make a run for the cave to try to coax Cato and/or anyone else from his little group to come out of hiding. Hiccup and Toothless would then fly down and take them out. They wouldn't even see it coming.

* * *

By midday me and Rue had reached the edge of the tree line. We looked out at our surroundings. Neither Cato nor any of his club were in sight. That didn't mean that they weren't there though. I knew I could take them on with my axe, it was Rue I was worried about. All she had was a knife she had snatched from a sleeping tribute. She was small and her strategy was to evade, not fight. She would be the choice target in this situation. However I doubted it would turn out that way. Cato's grudge was against me, not her. If anyone was going to be chased after, it would be me.

"Alright. You ready?" I asked.

"Ready as ever."

"Okay. Three. Two. One. Go!"

We jumped out of the bushes making as much noise as possible and sprinted for the cave. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught the sight of Cato on my right making a dash to try and intercept us. I had to keep my pace slow enough so that we didn't get separated.

I heard Toothless' distinct shriek and saw Cato stop and cower in fear, looking at the sky for the thing that destroyed his supplies a few nights ago. He obviously saw it and tried to warn some people behind us, but it was too late. The shriek stopped and was replaced by an explosion right behind us. We stumbled as we were hit by the shockwave, but still pressed for the cave.

When we reached the cave, Rue dashed inside while I climbed on top to overlook the field. I already knew where Cato was. I looked to my left and saw Narsca moving towards the cave. She had dual throwing knives drawn, but kept looking towards the sky, anticipating another bombing run from Toothless. I made a quick 360-degree look and saw Cato with his eyes still fixed on me. I also saw a patch of grass burnt black and hosting two burning corpses. I turned my gaze back to Narsca just in time to see her throwing one of her knives at me. I dodged it just in time for the blade to just graze my left shoulder pad. She threw her second knife at me and I blocked it with the head of my axe.

I jumped off the cave and charged her while she drew more knives. I closed the distance quicker than she must have thought, because as soon as she readied a knife for throwing, I lodged my axe deep into her left shoulder. I pulled out my axe to hear a struggle coming from the cave. I ran back in time to see Cato dragging Rue out of the cave. He had her in a neck hold that would allow him to snap her neck in an instant. I heard rather than saw Toothless and Hiccup land beside me. I took a quick look over to see the angry look in Toothless' eyes. I turned back to Cato.

"Let her go Cato. It's me you want."

"I don't think so. You seem to care a lot about this girl."

"I'm not gonna lie to you Cato, you're dead either way."

"Yeah, well so is she. If I don't kill her you will."

"No I won't. I fully intend for Rue to win this thing."

"Really? Alright, fine. I'll let her go, but you have to kill your boyfriend first." Cato was so engulfed in our conversation, that he didn't notice Rue pulling out her knife from under her shirt. To help sell the plan I gave Hiccup a concerned look. "If Rue here is going to win then it's like you said, gonna die either way." Cato boasted.

I smirked at Cato, "Not exactly."

Rue took Cato's momentary confusion to stab him in the hand with her knife. He loosened his grip with a cry of pain, allowing her to slip under his arms and scramble out of reach. She ducked to the ground as I threw my axe over her head and into Cato's.

I walked over to his dead body and pulled out my axe. I then ripped off a piece of his shirt and used it to clean the blood off. I walked back over to where Hiccup and Toothless were now checking Rue for injuries.

"Did you really mean it?" Rue asked. "When you said you wanted me to win."

"Yes I did. Every single word."

"So, what do we do now? I mean, I don't want to kill you guys, and I'm sure you don't want to kill each other."

"Don't worry we got that part figured out." said Hiccup with a smile as he got onto Toothless' back. He then offered me his hand and I took it as he helped me get on behind him.

"What are you doing?" Rue asked.

"We've decided that our current lifestyle just isn't for us." I replied.

"So we've decided to go find our own, together." Hiccup finished. We then pulled out our trackers and threw them into the grass. Rue looked on us with sad eyes.

"Will I ever see you again?"

"Maybe. Perhaps someday you'll get the chance to get away yourself. But for now you have to take care of your family." I told her.

"See you around Rue." Hiccup then gave her a final smile. Toothless then licked her to say goodbye, causing Rue to laugh as she gave his head one final hug.

"So long Rue. I hope our paths cross again in the future." I said.

"Goodbye guys. I'll miss you."

With a final wave goodbye, Toothless pushed off of the ground, launching us into the air. I watched as Rue's already small figure shrank into the distance. As the field left my sight I could barley make out the sound of the head gamemaker announcing the end of the Games.

After a few moments I realized something. I was flying. Not only that, but I was flying with Hiccup. I felt the cold yet relaxing air beat against my face as I looked around at the blue sky and the clouds around us. I hugged Hiccup and felt him tense up. We flew for hours, and as the sunset the sky turned into beautiful shades of purple, pink, and orange. Flying felt even more amazing than it already had. We flew on into the night as Toothless decided to fly amongst the clouds and then above them, just as the Northern Lights began to shine. I gave Hiccup a quick kiss on the cheek. We landed on a small island and rested on it's beach.

* * *

I woke up the next morning and found myself leaning against Toothless, right next to Hiccup. I got up and decided to search for some edible plants in the forest. We had skipped dinner last night so I was pretty hungry. The island was too small to support a village like on Berk, but it was large enough that it could supply for at least two people and a dragon. I returned with several pockets full of berries and nuts to find Hiccup crouching next to a fire roasting some fish.

"Oh there you are. I was beginning to think you'd gotten lost." He said in his usual sarcastic manner.

"And you didn't go looking for me?" I said, faking offense.

"I figured you could take care of yourself, plus you'd be mad at me for thinking that you couldn't."

"You're right. Where did you get the fish?"

"Toothless caught them. They _are_ his main diet."

We sat down and ate our fish together while Toothless sat opposite us eating an entire pile of fish. In between bites Hiccup kept talking about the plans he already had for a house and hunting gear and some other things I didn't care for at the moment. Even after we'd finished eating and went for a walk on the beach, he kept on talking. Until I hit him that is.

"Ow. What was that for?"

"That's for talking nonstop."

"Please don't tell me this is what everyday life is going to be like. Because..." I cut him off by grabbing his shirt and pulled him towards me, and kissed him. When it was over he was blushing and had a stunned look on his face. It was rather cute. "I could get used to it."

I smiled at him and he smiled back as we laced our fingers and continued our now silent walk on the beach, with my head resting on his shoulder.

"I love you Astrid."

"I love you too Hiccup."

This island was a start to a new life. One where there were no Peacekeepers interfering with our everyday lives. It wasn't going to be an easy life, but it was our life. Just the three of us, and we were going to live happily ever after.

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**THE END**

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**So, there's the Alternate Ending. I hope you guys enjoyed it. Once again I would like to thank all of you for reading this story. In the infamous words of Tigger, TTFN; Ta Ta For Now.**


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